'Highway Angels' honored for rescuing elderly woman whose car slid off I-79 in November
SPRINGBORO — Two truckers who helped rescue a 73-year-old woman after her car went down an embankment in McKean Township last month have been honored by the Truckload Carriers Association.
Lacy Leonhart, of Springboro, Crawford County, and Valerie Millwood, of Aragon, Georgia, were named Highway Angels by the association. Both women drive for America's Service Line Inc., based in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Leonhart was driving on Interstate 79 in McKean Township on Nov. 28 at about 3 p.m. when she saw a car facing the wrong way on a highway ramp. There had been bands of lake-effect snow in the area, and the car apparently had spun out, Leonhart said.
On the other side of the highway, Leonhart saw a woman covered in snow trying to make her way up an embankment.
"There was another car down in the ravine and an older lady crawling on her hands and knees trying to climb up the hill," Leonhart said.
Leonhart relayed what was happening on her CB radio and pulled over. Millwood also stopped to help.
"We were on the CB talking," Millwood said. "I didn’t see (the crash victim) at first, but I stopped and jumped out."
A car also stopped. With a couple from the car, Leonhart got the woman out of the snow and across the road to safety.
The truckers helped warm the woman and talked with her until emergency responders arrived.
"We got her wrapped up in a blanket," Millwood said.
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The Truckload Carriers Association is a trade association for professional truck drivers. Its Highway Angel program honors drivers for exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage on the job.
Nearly 1,300 drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels since the program's inception in 1997.
"To me, stopping was the right thing to do," Leonhart said of helping the woman in McKean Township. "There was nobody there (at first). Nobody had seen her."
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Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Truckers honored for rescuing elderly woman whose car slid off I-79
