Injured Calgary trucker wants to thank men who helped him survive highway crash

A Calgary truck driver wants to express his gratitude to two strangers who helped save his life following a brutal crash on a remote stretch of the Trans- Canada Highway in frigid temperatures. (Pixabay photo)

CALGARY — A Calgary truck driver wants to express his gratitude to two strangers who helped save his life following a brutal crash on a remote stretch of the Trans- Canada Highway in frigid temperatures.

Mike Kelly is recovering at the Foothills Medical Centre after his legs, an ankle and jaw were shattered in the wreck outside Brooks, Alta., on Dec. 30.

He remembers slamming into a big truck that had stopped in the fast lane on the snowy highway.

“All of a sudden, there’s a tractor trailer in front of me and it’s not moving,” Kelly said Friday. “I hit him, spun into the ditch.”

“The steering wheel and foot pedals came back and pinned my legs.”

Kelly, 52, said when he regained consciousness he was positioned awkwardly within the toppled rig as blood poured from his wounds.

He remembers the wind blowing into the cab and the -30 C temperature.

Then hope. A man was trying to open the door of his damaged rig and finally made it inside.

“He tried the passenger side and saw that I was alive and awake and told someone to call 911 and to get him some blankets,” Kelly recalled.

“He climbed in, sat on the dash, wrapped me in blankets (and) stopped the bleeding.”

Kelly said a second man then appeared with more blankets and climbed into the cab.

The men placed Kelly’s toque on his head and his gloves on his hands and the two supported the weight of the injured truck driver.

The Good Samaritans stayed with Kelly, asking him questions to keep him alert until emergency crews arrived.

He was then rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Kelly said he is in constant pain and will remain in hospital until he recovers from his numerous injuries.

But he wants to find out more about the two strangers who helped him and hopes they will come forward.

“Thank you,” said Kelly. “I want to say it in person.”