By: Chris Cheng
TEMPLE - A truck driver in Temple is lucky to be alive, Friday, thanks to
the quick thinking of a nurse.
A tractor trailer, carrying a manufactured home, lost control and
slammed into the concrete median near the southbound exit of SW H.K.
Dodgen Loop in Temple.
The load, the driver was carrying, jack-knifed which pinned the cab
between the home and the concrete barrier.
Shortly after the crash, people reported hearing the sound of
explosions.
"I heard a noise, I thought it was the guys out back here working with
their dozers and stuff, I thought they dropped something," Richard
Lytle said.
Amanda Reece had just dropped off her son at daycare and was on her
way to work when she saw the wreck.
"Honestly didn't expect to see somebody alive at that point the
entire thing engulfed in flames, so it was like a massive explosion,"
adding, "My initial reaction was 'oh my goodness I just watched
someone's life end in front of my eyes,'" Reece said.
Reece who is a registered nurse, at the Doctors Express Clinic, said
she didn't hesitate to spring into action.
"I am thinking what am I going to see, what am I going to come up
upon, what am I going to have to do first? You know you start using
your medical training and thinking about what you are going to do
first in order to help that patient," Reece said.
Luckily, the driver was able to get himself out but was unable to
stand and required medical attention.
"He was, he had some burns, his hair was singed on his face and his
arms," Reece said.
Reece, along with an off-duty paramedic and firefighter, were able to
keep the man stable until paramedics arrived.
The driver was transported to Scott & White Hospital with non-life
threatening injuries.
Despite, running into action and helping save a man's life, Reece
said she is no hero.
"I love doing it and it's just something that happened you know I just
happened to be there, happened to see it," Reece said.
