Truck driver rescued after dangling 100-feet in the air off West Virginia highway

A truck driver was heroically rescued from certain death after a commercial cargo truck veered off a snow-covered highway in West Virginia, leaving the semi-truck cab dangling off a bridge nearly 100-feet above the ground.

At roughly 6:25 a.m., first responders from Hurricane Fire Department were dispatched to a snow-covered US Route 35 in Mason County for a motor vehicle collision – and it wasn’t an average crash.

At the scene, the cab of a large tractor trailer was dangling off a bridge, with the driver inside staring a deadly drop to the ground directly in the eyes.

A coalition of local first responders assembled on US Route 35, where bystanders gathered and captured video and photographs of the truck that hung off the interstate bridge by the weight of its cargo. 

On scene, a team of local and county first responders closed the highway and began a rescue operation using a number of fire engines and emergency management vehicles to prepare to rescue the driver from the doomed truck. 

According to local first responders, technicians from several responding departments implemented three rope systems using two heavy “wrecker” trucks, operating one as an anchor to the bridge and the other to secure the dangling truck to prevent it from plummeting to the ground below.

First responders strategically positioned emergency vehicles to allow for a challenging rope rescue, and heroically lowered down a first responder to rescue the at-risk truck driver.

Hurricane Fire Department volunteer firefighter Westley Quinn was propelled off of the bridge and into the truck cab, where he secured the driver using a harness.

After roughly five hours dangling from the highway bridge, the driver was hoisted back up to safety unharmed. 

According to Mason County Commission President Rick Handley, responding local fire departments that heroically assisted in saving the life of the truck driver included Hurricane, Point Pleasant, Winfield, Buffalo, St. Albans, Nitro and Teays Valley.