Utah driver named Highway Hero for saving Minnesota girl from car in pond

Richard and Janet Filiczkowski beside their C.R. England truck. (Courtesy Goodyear)

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff

3/28/2008

For more about Richard Filiczkowski's heroic efforts, read the April 15-30, 2008 edition of The Trucker.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As if the night wasn’t emotional enough for C.R. England driver Richard Filiczkowski and his co-driver and wife Janet, Goodyear, sponsor of the annual North American Highway Hero award, made it even more so.

It was last April 26 when Filiczkowski, a resident of Bountiful, Utah, bailed out of his truck after his wife, who was driving at the time, noticed a car carrying Dr. Jeff Bern, a highly-respected Worthington, Minn., physician, and his daughter Abby veer off the road and into a pond in South Dakota.

Filiczkowski, with the assistance of two other men, was able to get Abby to safety, but could not save her father.

For his effort, Filiczkowski was named the 2007 North America Highway Hero at the annual Truck Writers of North America banquet here Thursday night.

With the Filiczkowskis standing on stage preparing to receive the award, Donn Kramer, director of marketing for Goodyear commercial tire systems, surprised the couple by calling to the platform Abby and her mother Marty, who were waiting out of sight just off stage, invoking sustained applause from the writers and hugs, kisses and tears on stage [Mrs. Bern had asked the Filiczkowskis to attend her husband’s funeral, which they did.]

Goodyear awards a $10,000 savings bond to the person named Highway Hero of the Year. the Filiczkowskis donated half the bond to Marty and Abby Bern.

The Filiczkowskis called Abby the real hero.

“She really is,” Filiczkowski said. “She was so strong. I couldn’t believe that this little girl could be so strong. She was just amazing.”

Janet Filiczkowski was driving the C.R. England rig along a quiet stretch of Interstate 90 about 100 miles west of Sioux Falls when she saw the car carrying Bern and his daughter cross four lanes of traffic and careen into the pond. She yelled for her husband, who was resting in the sleeper compartment. Filiczkowski quickly dressed and ran a quarter-mile to the scene.

“I dove right in because I saw Abby pounding on the car’s back window,” Filiczkowski said. “My only instinct was to get her out of the car as soon as possible. In situations such as that, seconds count.”

Once he had brought Abby to safety, Filiczkowski and the other men jumped into the water, but Bern was trapped in the car, and by the time the men freed him, it was too late.

“I wish I had been faster for him,” Filiczkowski said.

The other three Highway Hero finalists on hand Thursday night included:

Rick Tower of Yreka, Calif., a driver for Earl Bryant Trucking, who rescued an 82-year old woman from her sinking car after it left the roadway and landed in the swift Klamath River.

David Virgoe of Innisfil, Ontario, Canada, a driver for Wilburn Archer Trucking, who swerved his empty tanker truck to avoid three street-racing cars, slammed into the median guardrail and veered of the highway to avoid colliding with oncoming traffic. Virgoe died in the accident. His widow was at the ceremony Thursday.

Ronnie Green of Regina, N.M., a driver for A. Passmore and Sons, who rescued a pregnant woman from a brutal attack after she was run over by her boyfriend’s truck.