Semi takes wheelchair-bound man on 50 MPH ride
John Bumgardner
Created: 6/6/2007 9:51:47 PM
Updated: 6/7/2007 8:27:43 AM
Paw Paw - A wheelchair-bound man went on the ride of his life Wednesday after visiting a gas station in Van Buren County.
Calls began pouring in to the Paw Paw post of the Michigan State Police around 4:00 p.m. The first call came in with a woman telling dispatchers, "You are not going to believe this, there is a semi- truck pushing a guy in a wheel chair on Red Arrow Highway!"
The truck was traveling westbound on Red Arrow Highway just outside the village of Paw Paw.
Authorities responded to the call on Red Arrow Highway where the man and his wheelchair were still attached to the semi-truck.
Troopers and officers found a 21-year-old man un-harmed as he sat in his wheelchair, its handles still lodged in the truck's front grill.
Investigators say the semi truck owned by RMI had pulled out of a local gas station. The young man in the wheelchair some how pulled in front of the semi-truck, causing his wheelchair handles to become stuck in the front grill of the truck.
Authorities say the semi-truck at times reached speeds of nearly 50 miles per hour for nearly four miles.
The semi driver was in disbelief as troopers told him about the man on his front grill until he saw it for himself.
Police say the 21-year-old man was un-harmed and unfazed by the incident. The young man was quoted as saying, "It was quite a ride."
One trooper said, "You could work another 90 years in Law Enforcement and never see something like this. We're just glad no one was injured in this unusual incident."
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