https://www.kwch.com/2023/12/21/tru...rucker-who-passed-out-behind-wheel-i-70/‘True heroes’: Father, son save trucker who passed out behind wheel on I-70
By Matt Heilman
Published: Dec. 20, 2023 at 11:22 PM EST
GOODLAND, Kan. (KWCH) - Quick action from a father and his son prevented a catastrophe from unfolding on Interstate 70. Sherman County Sheriff Burton Pianalto described the incident Tuesday that led a northwest Kansas farmer and his son “to do extraordinary things to keep people safe in [the] county.”
The sheriff said a semi driver was traveling west on Interstate 70 when he had a medical emergency and “blacked out.” The semi entered the median and stayed between traffic lanes for about a quarter of a mile. Pianalto said the truck “jumped over a crossover,” which slowed it down.
“The farmer and his son traveling in the same direction noticed the driver needing help, so they went into action,” the sheriff said.
The truck slowed down enough for the son to jump onto the vehicle’s passenger side but the door was locked. That’s when the son, Brady Ginther, asked his father, Brent, to throw him a hammer. The sheriff said Brady then broke out the window, crawled into the semi and stopped the truck before it got to the overpass at Exit 17.
“This action more than likely saved the life of the truck driver along with protecting all the other travelers on I-70 and Highway 27,” the sheriff said. “It is amazing what people will do to help others they do not know.”
Brent Ginther said he travels on I-70 “a lot,” farming land in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. He said what happened Tuesday was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.
“This semi that was traveling at a high right of speed, coming down the median between the two lanes, I didn’t think much about it,” he said. “I said, what the heck is going on there?’” And all my hired men who were with me just said, ‘well, there’s nobody driving that truck.’”
Ginther estimated that the semi was about one-eighth of a mile before it would’ve made a 30-foot drop onto the highway between the two lanes. The semi was slowing down, but not quick enough.
Ginther said his first instinct was that they needed to shut the semi off. That’s when his son, Brady, jumped on board.
“I gave him a hammer and he knocked the window out and shut the truck off, and got it shut off just in time,” he said.
Brent and Brady Ginther are receiving a lot of recognition for their quick action since the Sherman County sheriff shared the story on social media.
“We appreciate everything and (we’re) just good farm guys and we’d help anybody in a situation if anybody needed help,” Brent Ginther said.
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