When Terry Reavis, a driver for Maverick Transportation with nearly three decades experience on the highway, found he’d been selected as one of three TCA Highway Angels of the Year for 2024, he didn’t believe it.
After all, he said, the actions he took on February 19, 2023, along a stretch of Interstate 95 in Brunswick, Georgia, were what anyone else would have done.
It was a bright, sunny day, and Reavis was guiding his rig down the freeway as usual, when he noticed an SUV traveling at a high rate of speed in the lane next to him. About the same time, he saw a pickup truck on the shoulder of the road, traveling in reverse and veering out into the lanes of travel.
Seconds later, as the pickup neared Reavis’ truck, the speeding SUV T-boned the pickup. Reavis was able to maneuver his truck and avoid the accident, but as soon as he could pull over safely, he stopped and went to help.
“I saw the SUV smoking, and I knew I had to get them out of there before it caught fire,” he told Truckload Authority.
The occupants of the SUV were traveling from North Carolina back to Florida after a family funeral. Francis Brissey and her grandchildren were in the back seat, while her son drove, and her daughter-in-law occupied the front passenger seat.
Brissey suffered the brunt of the injuries: She was propelled forward from the seat and through the front windshield.
“All I kept hearing is, ‘I wanna go to sleep!’” Reavis said of Brissey’s cries.
“I had blood on me, and I was trying to remember to first responder training of how to keep someone calm,” he said. “It was the worst wreck I’ve seen in my 27 years as a trucker. She was lying there, giving me her last will and testament. But I knew I couldn’t give up. I knew I had to save her and her family.”
Reavis, who was one of the first people at the scene, helped pull three children from the SUV and then turned his focus back to Brissey. He worked to stop some of the bleeding and tried his best to keep her calm until paramedics arrived.
“I stopped (to help) because it’s what I was taught,” Reavis said. “Treat people the way you would want to be treated.”
That mindset is par for the course for the Maverick team, according to Eric Tompkins, the carrier’s director of risk management.
“Here at Maverick, we talk about doing things ‘The Maverick Way,’” he explained. “This philosophy includes ‘Do the right thing’ with integrity, respect and commitment, and striving for excellence in all we do.
“Terry not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk,” Tompkins continued. “To see him recognized by industry leaders, our vendor partners and his driver peers has been truly enjoyable, and he is so deserving of that.
“We employ the best people, and the best people want to work here because of drivers like Terry,” he concluded.
In a statement, TCA officials lauded Reavis, noting that his 27 years of experience and training as a first responder “enabled him to manage one of the worst accidents he’s ever seen, remarkably ensuring no lives were lost.”
Following the February 2023 accident, Brissey eventually recovered from her injuries — but not before a grueling 21-day stay at a major trauma center. She recently told National Public Radio (NPR) that her memories of the accident are a blur, but she and Reavis have gone on to become great friends.
“He told me, ‘You changed my life. You showed me that I needed to love more,’” Brissey told NPR. “It was somebody that cared for my family. They actually stopped and cared. And that’s very hard to find. He’s our hero forever. And we’ll always stay in touch with him for the rest of our lives.”
Reavis says his actions during the incident have brought him closer to his wife and grandson.
But the experience also took a toll on him.
“I started driving again right after that, but I couldn’t sleep because I was so mentally ‘whacked,’” he said.
“When I finally saw my wife and grandson (after that fateful trip), l just grabbed them and cried and cried. I could not let them go,” he said. “I told them what happened, and they reassured me that everything was going to be OK.”
Reavis says he was shocked to discover he had become famous because of his heroism.
“It is overwhelming to think about people lauding me for doing what came natural to me,” he said. “To this day, I don’t think I’m a hero. I just think we should all look out for each other. You are my family, no matter who you are.”
Reavis, who earned a 2-million mile safety award in July 2024, says he’s practiced cautious driving throughout his career.
“I see people all the time on their phones — four-wheelers and truck drivers,” he said. “Bad driving … there is no excuse for it. We owe each other to put these devices down and concentrate on being behind the wheel.”
As for his relationship with Brissey, Reavis says he’s found a second family.
“We talk a lot, and we talk about our families,” he said. “We first met after the accident at a Pilot in Wildwood, Florida. Her baby came right up to me, and she said that he doesn’t do that for strangers normally. He let me hold him and hug him.
“You don’t forget that. I will never forget this,” he concluded.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
