Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/764538
32 www.bigrigowner.com J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 otherwise uninjured. He then made it to the crushed car. It had caught fire when he arrived, but he didn't see anyone inside. Despite passers-by pleading with him to retreat from the burning car, Frederick pressed on. He pried open the backdoor and sifted through the deployed airbags in the front seat – but still, there was no one in sight. His lungs beginning to fill with smoke, Frederick then noticed a cane lying in the backseat. The pieces of the puzzle started to become clearer. Frederick once again lifted the airbags so he could see below the front seats. There, dazed and lying motionless underneath the collapsed dashboard, was an elderly man. Paul kicked open the front door and pulled the injured man out of the burning car to safety, just as the vehicle became overwhelmed by flames. The man was in bad shape but conscious. A sergeant at the scene told Frederick the crash victim had a decent chance to live because of his actions. Frederick and his wife got back in the truck and drove off. To this day, Frederick isn't sure of the man's fate, knowing only he was alive when he left. "I think what he did was amazing," says Jim Hicks, president of Travelers Transportation. "He's always calm and cool. He doesn't get too excited and seems to always know what to do. I'm glad it was Paul who was there that night." Frederick says he doesn't chase these moments. They just seem to happen no matter where he is – like when he rescued a young boy who was badly hurt and bleeding when a boat backed into the child while he was swimming near a dock. Or when Frederick's out- doorsman version of "Spidey sense" kicked in when he encountered four ill-equipped novice hunters heading into the Quebec wilderness. When they never returned, Frederick used his instincts to track them down. He found them nearly frozen and starving before guiding them back to camp. "Paul is like a fulltime truck driver who moonlights as a superhero," says Paul Dalcourt, National Ac- count Executive, Bridgestone Canada. "Bridgestone is proud to call him the 2016 Truck Hero. We should all feel more secure knowing there are brave and selfless drivers like Paul out there on the road." Frederick credits his instincts and ability to remain calm for his knack of rescuing people. He calls it a respon- sibility, which he believes was born at a very early age when his own father saved him from drowning. He says he's been paying it back ever since. "Over his 53-year career Paul has repeatedly responded to emergencies and helped save lives," says OTA president Stephen Laskowski. "Like a sixth sense, he's at the right place at the right time when there are people in need. Maybe it's coincidence. But more likely, it's about who Paul is as a professional and as a person." • Legends