ALEXANDRIA, VA, N.C. (WITN) - A Duplin County man has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association for stopping an overdosing driver who was driving erratically on a busy highway.
The TCA says that in the early evening of June 21, Corey Parker was driving south of Ashland, Virginia when he noticed a Lexus sedan driving recklessly from lane to lane.
“They smacked the barrier again and then went out to the middle of the road and then in and smacked the barrier again,” Parker said. “I thought, something’s definitely going on.”
The association says Parker followed the car onto a parkway and was blasting his horn and trying to slow down traffic to warn other drivers.
Parker says he used his truck to slow the car down to a stop against a barrier because he feared the driver would crash into a car of innocent people.
“The car slowed down to about 10, 15 (mph) and smacked the barrier,” Parker says. “I knew that was the time to get in front of them.”
“All I could think of was that car hitting kids or something.”
The TCA says Parker went to the driver’s side, opened the door, and saw a Narcan pen (which is used to reverse the effects of a drug overdose) in the driver’s lap. The driver was unconscious. Moments later, police arrived.
WITN is told state police responded and the driver was checked out by EMS before refusing more medical treatment. The crash is still under investigation.
The TCA says Parker knows firsthand how drugs can impact and take over someone’s life, as he served six years in jail due to decisions he made while being addicted. He has since recovered and owns his own trucking business, Triple S Transport in Kenansville, a home, and is married.
“I’m in the process of helping him get into rehab,” Parker says.
We’re told that since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels.
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