Goodyear has named Clinton Blackburn, a truck driver who saved a law enforcement official from being strangled by a prisoner, as its 32nd Goodyear Highway Hero.
Chosen from three finalists, Blackburn, of Morehead, Ky., accepted the award during this week’s Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.
Blackburn was driving near Elizabethtown, Ky., last year when he observed a sheriff’s cruiser lurch toward the highway median and abruptly stop. He pulled up to investigate and noticed that the car’s driver side door was open. Inside, the driver, Spencer County jailer Darrell Herndon, was being strangled from behind by a prisoner, who was leaning over the back seat.
Blackburn ran to the car, reached into the vehicle through its driver side door, and began struggling with the prisoner in an effort to free Herndon, who was immobilized by his seat belt. During the melee, the prisoner pulled Herndon’s gun from its holster. Blackburn immediately grabbed the barrel of the gun and pointed it toward the car’s dashboard. Meanwhile, Herndon released his seat belt and rolled out of the car. The prisoner then tried to point the gun at Blackburn, who turned the weapon around and aimed it at the prisoner.
Pointing the gun at the prisoner, Blackburn backed away from the car. Realizing that the cruiser’s keys were still in the ignition, the prisoner tried to start the car and drive away. Working together, Blackburn and Herndon subdued him.
“Clinton acted without regard for his own safety, literally putting himself in harm’s way to save another person,” said Gary Medalis, marketing director for Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. “His decision to get involved is a powerful example of the selflessness and courage exhibited by professional truck drivers.”
As the winner, Blackburn receives a special Highway Hero ring, a $5,000 prize and other items.
The other finalists include: David Fredericksen, a driver from Windermere, Fla., who helped rescue a woman and her one-year-old child from a car that had caught fire; and Mack Guffey, a driver from Gainesboro, Tenn., who rescued the injured driver of an SUV when he saw the vehicle slam into the guard rail and burst into flames.
