Cody Crisler and Kenneth Meekins, professional truck drivers with Henderson Trucking, have each been named Highway Angels by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA). Both men are being recognized for their willingness to stop and assistance a young family whose baby was accidentally locked in their vehicle.
On June 7, Henderson Trucking colleagues Jessica Graham, Crisler, and Meekins had just finished having dinner together in Fairview Heights, Illinois. As they were walking across the restaurant parking lot, they noticed a couple and a little girl locked out of their pickup. They had broken the antenna off the truck and were trying to jimmy the window and unlock the door.
“Cody said something didn’t feel right and that it might be more of an emergency situation,” Graham said.
The three drivers had gone to the restaurant together in Graham’s truck. Crisler and Meekins hurried to Graham’s side box, grabbed some tools and went over to the pickup to see if they could help.
“The couple told us their young daughter, who couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4, had accidentally locked their baby inside,” Graham said.
Crisler used a pry bar to wedge the window and Meekins helped hold the gap open so the father could use the antenna to press the door’s unlock button. Definitely a team effort! Graham says the mother was nearly in tears with relief and thanked them for their help.
Graham is proud of the professional truck drivers for following their instincts and rendering assistance that evening.
“It was June in Illinois,” she said. “It wouldn’t have taken long for the temperature inside the pickup to heat up. It’s things like this that make Henderson proud. We’ve got a good bunch of drivers here.”
For their willingness to assist their fellow drivers, TCA has presented Crisler and Meekins with a certificate, patch, lapel pin and truck decals. Henderson Trucking has also received a certificate acknowledging their drivers as Highway Angels.
Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job. EpicVue sponsors TCA’s Highway Angel program.