A split-second decision on Interstate 5 turned into a rescue that witnesses say stopped a far worse crash.
A Washington man is being praised after using his own car to stop an out-of-control SUV on southbound I-5 near Fife, helping a woman having a medical emergency and a young child in the back seat.
The rescue happened Tuesday after the SUV reportedly collided with another vehicle and repeatedly struck the concrete barrier.
Paul Jackson, of Roy, Washington, said he knew something was wrong when he saw the SUV move across the highway.
“When I saw the car cut across three lanes, I knew something was wrong,” Jackson said.
As he pulled alongside, he said he saw the driver was in distress.
“Her face was up, out of it, eyes rolled into the back of her head,” he said.
Jackson also saw a young boy strapped into a child safety seat.
“He was scared. Poor kid. He was scared.”
Jackson said he acted without hesitation.
“It was something I didn’t really even think about. I just did it,” he said. “Somebody had to do something.”
Using his Kia Forte, Jackson maneuvered alongside the SUV and guided it toward the concrete barrier until it stopped.
“I got her in front and just kind of pushed her on over,” he said. “I didn’t want anything to go south. I just slowly glided her to a stop, and it worked.”
Cell phone video captured the moment Jackson’s car squeezed the SUV against the barrier until it came to a stop.
Afterward, Jackson said he ran to the SUV, shifted it into park, helped get the child to safety and stayed with the driver until police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other Good Samaritans arrived.
The rescue also left him late to pick up his wife’s birthday cake, so he texted her photos from the scene.
“Proof that I wasn’t pranking,” he joked. “If you had to have an excuse, that would be a good one.”
Jackson said he does not see his decision as complicated.
“God put me there to do that,” he said.
He also said he hopes people do not ignore chances to help others.
“You get so many opportunities to do things for other people, but we are so busy… and you pass by and think, ‘Should I have helped that person?'” Jackson said. “This was not going to be that case. I knew I was going to stop this vehicle no matter what.”
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