A Colorado driver saw someone else in danger and decided to take action earlier this month on the 6th Avenue Freeway, just west of Denver. A woman suffered a seizure and lost consciousness behind the wheel. Ryan Myrick took his Dodge Ram, pulled in front of an SUV, and intentionally caused a collision much safer than most other potential outcomes.
Myrick encountered what seemed like an erratic driver and responded accordingly with honking and yelling. He told KDVR:
“Just after Sheridan, I saw a vehicle that swerved in front of me. They swerved all the way over and hit the median, the dividing median. Then bounced up and over and then back to the wall of the right-hand side of westbound.”
However, the situation changed when Myrick realized that the other driver was unconscious, and slumped over in the passenger seat with no hands on the wheel. He also knew the next off-ramp was approaching. The SUV would likely go flying off of the highway. After judging that a third car wouldn’t be involved, he pulled in front of the driver in distress and let the 30 mph crash happen. Once they came to a stop, he hopped out and grabbed a jack to get to the woman inside the SUV. An off-duty cop and a nurse also pulled over to assist Myrick.
The crash damaged the Dodge Ram’s rear bumper, but the trailer hitch took the brunt of the impact. Damage to a truck is worth it to save someone’s life at the end of the day. However, Myrick’s girlfriend set up a GoFundMe page to cover the repairs and donations blew past the $1,000 goal.