4-1 Weekly Analysis

We don’t hear about them very often, but everyday heroes do exist. We may read about them in our local newspapers but very seldom do we ever see them on television. Reader’s Digest recently published an article about two of these everyday heroes. Heroes: Roadside Inferno tells the story of a man and woman truck driving couple, the Coopers, and another truck driver, Ronnie, who performed heroic acts on the same day.

Ronnie Sanders was running his truck route when he happened upon a van that had stopped suddenly in traffic on an icy road. He observed children in the backseat and knew instantly that the impact of the heavy truck would kill them. Acting on instinct, he immediately swerved to miss the van and his truck plowed down a steep embankment and collided instead with a pile of rocks. Ronnie’s truck caught on fire when the rocks pierced the gas tank.

At the same time, the Coopers were coming down the road and saw the truck on fire. They stopped and heard Ronnie screaming for help. Mr. Cooper ran down the embankment to help Ronnie who was already burning from the flames. It took him three tries but he eventually freed Ronnie from the burning cab and then he pulled off his shirt to put out the flames on Ronnie’s burning legs. Mr. Cooper had managed to pull Ronnie far enough away from the truck before it exploded.

Both Ronnie and Mr. Cooper performed heroic acts by sacrificing themselves to save the lives of others. According to Kersten (2009), “Ronnie spent two months in the hospital and received skin grafts on both his legs. He now wears compression garments for his scars and gets physical therapy twice a week.” As for Mr. Cooper he suffered a few minor burns and some smoke inhalation. They consider each other heroes.

Reference:
Kersten, J. (2009). Heroes: Roadside inferno. Retrieved June 11, 2009, from http://www.rd.com.