Truck driver named Highway Angel

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Gregory Coleman, of Marked Tree, a Highway Angel for rescuing a woman who jumped off an Alabama bridge in the middle of the night. Coleman drives for Decker Truck Lines from Ft. Dodge, Iowa.

On April 25, Coleman was driving on I-65 in Priceville, Ala. around 3 a.m. when he approached the 1-65 Tennessee River Bridge, where he was stopped by a man. Coleman brought his truck to a stop, and was told by the man that a woman he knew had jumped off the bridge. He asked if he had any rope to throw down to the woman, who was still alive in the water.

“I could tell he was panicking,” Coleman said “At that point, I knew I didn’t have rope but I ran around and grabbed some straps.”

Coleman and the man tied three straps together, each approximately 15 feet long, he said. Then they tied one end of the straps to the bridge and threw the other end into the water for the drowning woman to hold onto.

It took emergency responders from Morgan County Rescue Squad between 30 and 40 minutes to get to the scene, Coleman said. Responders arrived by boat and transported the woman to an ambulance at Riverwalk Marina nearby.

The sister of the woman who jumped off the bridge contacted Decker Truck Lines to thank Coleman, saying if he hadn’t stopped with those straps the family was sure she would have drowned before the rescue boat got there since she was hurt, cold and barely able to stay above the water. They are so thankful that she now has a second chance and can get the help she needs.

“If it would help somebody out,” Coleman said modestly, “I would do it.”

Since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsor, DriverFacts, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Coleman.