The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named Owen Lewis of Sharp Transportation, a TCA Highway Angel after he assisted a young woman on Interstate 80 in Iowa following a crash on the morning of Nov. 9., when she crashed her vehicle into an irrigation ditch.

Lewis was traveling westbound on I-80 near Harlan, Iowa, at 6 a.m. when he saw a car traveling eastbound lose control and crash. He pulled over wanting to check on the driver to ensure they were okay.

“I thought, ‘Okay, let’s make sure everything is okay’,” Lewis recalls. “When I got there, the car was about 100 feet or so off the side of the highway down in an irrigation ditch.”

He found the vehicle driver, a young woman identified as Cora, walking up the side of the hill and uninjured. After calling 911 and her family, Cora went into Lewis’ truck to stay warm while waiting for help to arrive. She told him that she had fallen asleep at the wheel.

“I’ve always felt like if something happens, I need to stop and make sure everything is okay,” Lewis said about his actions, adding that stopping to help was an instinct.

The next day Cora’s family thanked Sharp Transportation in a letter, writing, “We are very grateful for his kindness and how he kept her safe and warm until the state trooper got to the scene. Owen is a model employee who your company is lucky to have on board. We appreciate what he did for our daughter yesterday!”