Truck driver hailed as hero after Kapuskasing near-miss
‘There were a few angels on the road’ trucker says after helping victim of snowmobile crash
Because of her quick thinking, Dawna Jacobsen is being hailed as a highway hero.
On a December night, Jacobsen saw lights hurtling straight toward her as she drove her 18-wheeler west down a stretch of snowy highway outside Kapuskasing..
"They weren't vehicle lights," Jacobsen said. "So I knew something was going on there, that it wasn't right."
"So I slowed down…and at that point I saw an object coming towards me which I thought was a large box or something."
The object Jacobsen saw heading toward her was a snowmobile, which police said was piloted by a 12-year-old boy. Moments earlier, the snowmobile had been clipped by an SUV, tossing the injured boy on the road.
"I thought 'somebody needs help and they need it now,'" Jacobsen said.
Luckily, Jacobsen said she had already been slowing down her rig. A pickup truck had passed her a few moments earlier, forcing her to ease up, enough to be able to come to a complete stop just metres from where the boy lay in the snow.
Jacobsen said she pulled her truck off to the side of Highway 11, hit her blinkers, and called 911.
Just minutes later, an oncoming 18-wheeler heading east down Highway 11 saw Jacobsen's lights flashing, and began to slow down.
"After that, two men approached the person… which turned out to be a 12 year old boy," Jacobsen said. " I was told that they stabilized him and made sure he was comfortable while I was speaking with 911."
Police were the first responders on the scene, followed by EMS.
Police told Jacobsen that if it weren't for her actions – pulling off the highway with her lights flashing – oncoming traffic, like the eastbound 18-wheeler, likely wouldn't have been able to slow down. The injured boy likely could have been hit by another vehicle.
There were a few angels on the road that night.- Dawna Jacobsen
"Typically, I never take that highway," Jacobsen said. "I'm always on another highway. So I really feel like the way everything worked, with that pickup truck slowing me down, I just feel like that boy's life was spared by God."
"There were a few angels on the road that night."