TCA recognize highway angel

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BURLINGTON, Ont. — The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has bestowed highway angel-status upon a deserving Canadian driver who came to the aid of two motorists following a crash.

Russell Ruppel of Burlington has been dubbed a highway angel after he feverishly tried to rescue a driver and his passenger from their car following a crash during the winter.

Ruppel, who was returning from a delivery in Windsor at the time, came across the accident on a slippery back road. The car ahead of him slid off the road into the ditch and was submerged in water. Although the driver of the car succumbed to his injuries several weeks after the accident, the passenger was saved and Ruppel is credited with prolonging the life of the driver.

“Whenever it looks like someone needs a hand, I stop to help them,” says Ruppel as he recounts the incident. “I couldn’t even see the vehicle in the ditch from the road, but my first thought was if the car was on its roof, the driver was going to need help fast.”

The two men involved in the accident were brothers and grandfathers.

“It was quite an effort for us to get them out,” admits Ruppel.

The TCA routinely recognizes drivers who have come to the aid of others through its highway angel programs. Hundreds of drivers have been recognized since its inception in 1997.

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