By Noah Haglund and Andy Paras
The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
Copyright 2006 The Post and Courier
WALTERBORO, S.C. — A Colleton County firefighter/paramedic assisting a motorist along Interstate 95 was badly injured Wednesday afternoon when a passing 18-wheeler hit him, authorities said.
Henry Henderson, 36, of Walterboro had stopped on the northbound side of the freeway near mile marker 66 to help a woman who was having chest pains, said Lance Cpl. Paul Brouthers, a Highway Patrol spokesman.
Henderson was opening an outside compartment on the firetruck when the crash occurred around 3:40 p.m., Brouthers said. A tractor-trailer approaching from behind veered to the right of the interstate and into the emergency lane.
“The truck part of the rig didn’t hit anything, but the trailer did,” he said. “The trailer side-swiped the truck and the firefighter at the same time.”
Colleton County Fire and Rescue Director Barry McRoy said Henderson was the only person in the firetruck. He had just stepped off it before the crash.
It wasn’t clear what had hit him — the trailer or a firetruck compartment door that flew off from the impact. An ambulance crew arrived a few minutes later and found him lying in the roadway, McRoy said.
He had suffered head injuries and a broken leg, Brouthers said.
Henderson was airlifted to Medical University Hospital, where McRoy said he was undergoing surgery Wednesday night. A hospital spokeswoman said Henderson was in fair condition.
Truck driver Charles Jamison, 72, of Orangeburg, was charged with driving too fast for conditions, he said.
The truck did not hit the car where the woman was sitting and she did not suffer any injuries from the crash, Brouthers said. She was taken to Colleton County Medical Center in Walterboro.
McRoy described Henderson as a hard-working and dedicated employee who has been with the department for about five years. He recently became certified as a paramedic after nine months of training.
“His life in the last nine months has pretty much been working and going to school,” McRoy said. “That’s a very grueling school and he did very well.”