WRIGHTSTOWN (NBC 26) — A Wrightstown-area man's quick thinking and decisive action helped rescue a semi-truck driver Thursday morning after a dramatic crash into a local gas station.
Kyle Swalheim was running late for work when he saw the semi traveling in his direction on Broadway Street, at what he estimates to be upwards of 30 miles-per-hour.
"I knew something was wrong," Swalheim recalls.
The truck drove over the median and took down a street sign. That's when Swalheim told his fiancé over the phone:
"Honey, I've got to go. He's going to slam right into that building."
Without hesitation, Swalheim rushed to help the driver.
"I wasn't even thinking. It was just reaction," Sawlheim remembers.
He parked his car in the lot and rushed inside. Fortunately, he says, there were no other cars parked at the gas station at the time, and only an attendant was inside the building.
Officals say that the truck's collision path just barely missed the attendant's counter.
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Swalheim and another man cleared debris to reach the semi driver, who was still inside the running vehicle.
The rescue proved challenging, as the truck's doors were locked and the driver, Swalheim says, wasn't responsive to his pounding on the driver-side window.
A woman who had been pumping gas called 911, while Swalheim ran out to his work van.
"[I] grabbed a hammer, broke a hole in the window, pulled the glass out and then reached in and shut the truck off," he said. Turning of the vehicle's engine was a top priority, as exhaust was quickly funneling into the building.
When first responders arrived on scene, Swalheim provided them with a wrench to turn off the station's gas line.
"It was just crazy because I ended up getting a later start than I wanted to that morning," Swalheim said. He was a half-hour behind schedule when he left his home for work.
"I was just in the right spot at the right time to just jump in and try to help," he stated.
The semi driver was transported to a hospital following the crash.
First responders have not released further details about the driver's condition or what caused the incident, saying that an investigation is ongoing.
