Highway Angels

Quick thinking ABF driver aids ailing clerk

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) recently honored truck driver Stanley P. Gorczak as a Highway Angel for helping someone pull through a medical emergency. Gorczak had checked into the Carlisle Hotel in Omaha, NE, on Aug. 8 of this year, where he planned to spend the night before continuing on his route the next day. A seasoned traveler, Gorczak had come down to the hotel lobby to fill his thermos with coffee before heading back upstairs to his room for the night.
     Suddenly, a hotel clerk came running toward Gorczak screaming that another hotel employee had collapsed. Thinking quickly, Gorczak handed his cell phone to the clerk and told her to call 911. He then rushed to help the employee, who was lying prone on the floor.
     Gorczak’s first instinct was to carefully roll the employee onto her back and check her vital signs. He checked for a heartbeat and looked at her eyes to see if the pupils were dilated. He spoke to her, trying to get her to respond, but she was incoherent. Noticing that she was shivering, he sat her up in a chair and covered her with towels. Then, he held her head up to prevent her from choking in case of a seizure. Gorczak patiently waited with the employee until the paramedics arrived.
     “I was just being myself, and I only did what I hope someone would do for me,” Gorczak said. “I was in the right place at the right time to help somebody.”
     Now that Gorczak has been accepted as a TCA Highway Angel, he will receive a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate and patch for the kindness he showed to the hotel employee.  ABF Freight System, Inc., will also receive a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.