ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Doron “D” Doravi of Phoenix, a professional truck driver for Diamond Transportation System of Racine, Wisconsin, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association. He is being recognized for his willingness to stop and rescue a fellow truck driver after a rollover accident.
On May 3, Doravi, an owner-operator, was hauling a load from Fargo, North Dakota, to Amarillo, Texas. He was southbound on Highway 81, several miles south of York, Nebraska, when he noticed something in the northbound lanes.
It took a moment to register what he was seeing: An overturned tractor trailer lying on the cab’s passenger side, stretched across the two-northbound lanes and the grass center median. It appeared the truck driver had lost control as he approached a curve. Part of the trailer’s roof was sheared open and its contents, salt blocks used for livestock, had spilled out on the pavement.
Doravi pulled to the shoulder and ran over to help. A driver of a flatbed truck had stopped just ahead of him to assist. As Doravi looked around the rolled-over tractor trailer, he noticed fluid leaking from the truck and asked the flatbed driver to get his fire extinguisher.
Another motorist was calling 911 as the first driver then helped Doravi climb up the driver’s side of the overturned cab. The driver was alert, talking, and didn’t indicate any injuries or any passengers with him, but he was badly shaken. He was still strapped into his seatbelt and couldn’t reach to unhook it. Doravi used a knife he carries with him to cut the seatbelt. He and the other driver helped pull the man out of the cab. A short while later, emergency services arrived including a rural fire department that took over securing the accident scene.
“This is something to learn from,” Doravi said. “I don’t know what happened (that day). But if you’re carrying a heavy load you go slower. If you’re tired you need to find a safe spot to take a nap.”
Doravi is a former reserve fire fighter and EMT and is in the habit of carrying a knife which can be used in an emergency to cut a seatbelt or to cut clothing to check for injuries. He also carries a backpack with medical supplies. “You don’t know what you’re gonna find out on the road,” he said.
For his willingness to assist his fellow drivers, TCA has presented Doravi with a certificate, patch, lapel pin, and truck decals. Doravi’s employer has also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.
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