APOPKA, Fla. – People at Apopka City Hall on Wednesday night gave Jason Williams a standing ovation for risking his life to save the driver of a dump truck that lost control on State Road 429 in August 2016.
Williams said he didn't hesitate and that it was the first thing that came to his mind.
"I parked my truck on the opposite side of the road and ran off the road and climbed up there, as they said, and helped him out of the truck," Williams said of the victim.
He told News 6 it was no easy feat, because the 61-year-old driver, Michael Bridges, was unconscious.
"I climbed out there and helped him, tried to help him out the first time, but I slipped when I grabbed his arm," Williams said. "(I) fell off the top, climbed back up and helped him again."
Wednesday night, the City Council honored Williams with a special medal, and the Apopka Fire Department gave him a plaque for what they called heroic lifesaving actions.
"(I did it) thinking maybe someone will help me out one day," Williams said.
The Apopka fire chief said the crash led him to look into ways to improve emergency responses and rescues on the highway, especially with Apopka growing and with Wekiva Parkway now under construction.