Man in wheelchair takes ride on semi's grille

[Mr. Snackpants]

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=6623359

PAW PAW -- A young man has quite the story to tell after his wheelchair got lodged in the grille of a semi truck, which pushed the chair and the man inside for five miles down a road.

Muscular dystrophy forced Ben Carpenter, 22, of Alamo into a wheelchair eight years ago. He was on one of his twice-weekly outings, this time in Paw Paw around 4 p.m. Wednesday.

As he crossed Red Arrow Highway in front of a semi truck, he didn't make the traffic light. The truck driver apparently didn't see Carpenter and a collision occurred, causing the wheelchair's handles to become lodged in the truck's grille.

Carpenter remembers the sound. "Kind of like train cars coming together, something like that," he told 24 Hour News 8.

Unable to hear Carpenter's cries for help over the hum of the diesel engine, the truck driver continued down Red Arrow Highway at speeds of approximately 50 mph.

"It was fast, I know that. Faster than this chair was made to go," Carpenter said.

"I was thinking, the cars keep going by and nobody bothered to stop."

But they were calling 911.

The Michigan State Police Paw Paw Post and Van Buren County Central Dispatch began receiving strange reports of the situation. Police initially thought the report might have been a prank until they started receiving more calls.

Time was running out on Carpenter as the dark streaks on the road were marks left by the smoking tires on his wheelchair.

"I was probably thinking that this is going to keep going and not stop anywhere, 50 or 60 miles somewhere. What if I end up in South Haven? I mean, I would have been dead way before that."

Luckily for him, the truck driver stopped five miles down the road at Ralph Moyle Trucking Company, which owned the truck.

"If I had gone any more miles, the tires would have been gone all the way," Carpenter said.

When troopers arrived at the scene they discovered Carpenter unharmed and unfazed by the incident.

"I was happy. Thank God it was over," Carpenter said. "I thought it was kind of like a fair ride. I don't remember feeling any bumps though. I must have, but the road must have been pretty smooth."

Police approached the driver and advised him of what happened. The driver did not believe them until he stepped out of the truck and saw Carpenter still sitting in the chair.

One trooper on the scene said, "You could work another 90 years in law enforcement and never see something like this."

Everybody said they are just glad no one was injured.

Authorities say no charges will be filed.

I live a little over a hour away from Paw Paw and have been there once. It was all over my local news channels last night. Such a crazy story. He's lucky to be able to tell his story. Can you imagine being the semitruck driver? Police telling you to stop because there is a man in a wheelchair in you grill....that would be so weird. He must've felt terrible. Check out the 911 calls on the link above, they are kinda funny.

[Duke]

That's crazy. I'm glad the guy is fine.

[Buslady]

I can almost relate to how the driver must've felt. I'd have been on my knees begging forgiveness of the guy. Fortunantely with buses, we have cross view mirrors and can see what's directly in front of my bus. Kinda interesting...they're required on schoolbuses to prevent any kids being hurt or killed, why aren't they required on rigs? Look how high a cabover driver sits, he can't see directly in front of his truck, and a conventional truck with it's long hood, certainly can't see in front of his truck...so why aren't these x-views required?!?!?!?!? OY!
I'm surprised the guy's truck didn't have cross view mirrors, alot of rigs here in CA have them. It's a safety issue I hope the company looks into. It could save a life.

[RAM BAM]

Michigan has some cool names for towns and cities like Paw Paw, Kalamazoo and Owosso!

[PipingPringle]

oh my God! That's horrible! My father has muscular dystrophy and I just feel revulsion about the thought of this happening to him. When you have muscular dystrophy your muscles won't work properly, this guy couldn't even push himself out of his chair at a stop or anything if he wanted. What a nightmare.

[Swany]

Jeezo, good thing hes OK. I'm gonna tell my big bro to be more care when out in his chair.

Were those people driving when using their cellphones? Thats illegal here.

[Katie]

It is illegal in some cities here too......but federal law will not touch something like that. (for instance, Nashville is trying to pass a law that makes it illegal to text message while you are driving.......like you need a law to tell you that is a stupid thing to do)


This guy was mighty lucky.