Truck Driver and 12-Year Marine Veteran Saves Man Who Pulled Metal From His Own Leg and Severed Artery After Crash in Arkansas — Cuts Seatbelt to Improvise Tourniquet, Named TCA Highway Angel
Truck Driver and 12-Year Marine Veteran Saves Man Who Pulled Metal From His Own Leg and Severed Artery After Crash in Arkansas — Cuts Seatbelt to Improvise Tourniquet, Named TCA Highway Angel
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS — A professional truck driver and 12-year Marine Corps veteran drew on battlefield medical training to save the life of a crash survivor near Little Rock on May 22, 2026, cutting a seatbelt to fashion a tourniquet after the injured driver pulled a piece of metal from his own leg and severed a major artery.
The Truckload Carriers Association has named James Brown, a driver for Melton Truck Lines, a TCA Highway Angel for his actions that morning.
At approximately 6 a.m., Brown was driving through torrential rain approximately 40 miles east of Little Rock, having slowed to 50 to 55 mph due to visibility of only 25 to 30 feet. A truck sped past him before losing control, leaving the roadway, and overturning after sliding approximately 65 to 75 feet.
"I thought he was going to keep it upright," Brown said. "But when he came back onto the asphalt, I figured he overcorrected."
Brown pulled his truck safely to the shoulder and ran to the wrecked vehicle. As he helped the driver escape, he spotted a piece of metal lodged in the man's leg — but before he could warn him, the driver pulled it out himself, severing a major artery.
Brown immediately applied the medical skills he developed during his 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. "I had battlefield medical training," he said. "I cut a seatbelt up, and we made a tourniquet and got it on his leg."
The improvised tourniquet slowed the blood loss and stabilized the driver until emergency responders arrived. Brown said the window for survival was razor thin. "With an injury like that, you've got about 90 seconds before somebody bleeds out. Had we not done something, he'd have been dead by the time help got there," Brown said.
The injured driver was conscious when Brown reached him but was fading by the time the tourniquet was in place. "He was conscious when I got there. By the time I got the tourniquet on, he was still conscious, but he wasn't making much sense. He had lost quite a bit of blood," Brown said.
Brown remained at the scene for nearly two hours after first responders arrived, providing witness statements and assisting investigators before continuing on to complete his delivery.
Brown said his motivation was simple. "If that had been me in that truck, I would hope somebody would stop and help. My wife, my children — I'd hope somebody would stop and do the same for them," he said.
Since the TCA Highway Angel program launched in 1997, nearly 1,500 professional truck drivers have been recognized for exemplary courage and kindness on the job. The program is presented by EpicVue with supporting sponsors DriverFacts and Northland Insurance.
Interview courtesy of the Truckload Carriers Association.
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