‘I don’t want to die’: Semitruck driver makes 911 call as cab dangles from bridge

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) - Kentucky first responders are receiving recognition for helping rescue the driver of a semitruck hanging over an overpass.

Members of the Louisville Fire Department and Metro Dispatch stood alongside Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg during his weekly address.

The mayor thanked the rescue crews for getting a semitruck driver to safety after the truck was dangling over the Interstate 65 overpass, just south of the Kennedy Bridge.

Dispatcher Martyna Wohner took the first call that day while the driver was still hanging over the edge in his truck.

She said keeping calm during the chaotic event was all she could do, even if she didn’t feel that way.

“I was honestly a bit scared. I was scared for him,” Wohner said.

But you couldn’t tell from that dramatic 911 dispatch audio. She was heard constantly reassuring the panicked driver.

“They’re gonna get you out. You’re gonna be OK,” Wohner said.

“I am hanging off right past the bridge. I don’t want to die,“ the truck driver responded.

“I know they can get you out. They’ve done it before,” she replied.

Because of the way his truck cab twisted after the crash, he was turned backward, and his door was directly facing the ground below.

Fearing he’d fall several feet down from the overpass, he asked Wohner to give one last message to his family, just in case.

“I was like, ‘If this is the last thing he ever says to his family, I want his family to know what he was going through in that moment,’ so I let him have his time, but I also wanted to let him know that they’re going to get him out,” Wohner said.

Wohner stayed on the line with him for nearly 20 minutes until law enforcement at the scene then called the driver to instruct him on how the rescue would play out.

Wohner and the driver hung up, leaving her to look on.

“We have traffic cameras. I had it pulled up on my other screen, and I was watching everything they were doing,” she said.

With three years in the role, she credits her training for helping her execute under pressure.

“I think it’s just the more calls you take, the more normal it becomes,” she said. “I don’t want to let him know I was scared for him, just because I knew he was scared, so I tried to be calm for him,” Wohner said.

After a five-minute break to come to terms with the magnitude of the ordeal, she continued with her day and helped more people.

“I got right back into it and answered another call,” Wohner said.

Officials haven’t released the name of the Louisville firefighter who rescued the truck driver, but their efforts were also recognized.

Mayor Greenberg said he’s taking steps to address potentially hazardous parts of the interstate by talking to Kentucky’s Transportation Secretary Jim Gray.

“Given the number of accidents that have occurred there, are there things that we can do to improve the safety? Is there improved signage that we can make? Do we need to change the speed limit?” Greenberg said.

He said if there are changes to be made in that stretch of I-65, he’d like them to happen as quickly as possible.

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