Thursday, 4:30 PM
Hero saw hit coming; saves trooper's life
By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff
The tractor-trailer rumbled toward a highway pothole crew and a State Police cruiser, nothing in its path but a lone MassHighway worker in a truck.
Kevin M. Sullivan saw the tragedy coming at him in his rear-view mirror. But he didn’t think twice about putting his crash truck into the way.
"I just stood there and took it. That’s all," Sullivan, 59, said in an interview Thursday night in his room at Boston Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition. "When I looked back in the mirror, all I saw is the cab, the door, the silver of the box, and that’s when I said, 'I’m gonna get hit.'"
Sullivan’s truck got hit so hard it was pushed nearly 200 feet, then flipped end-over-end three times, over a guardrail and into a ditch along Interstate 495 in Middleborough.
"On the third end-over roll I yelled out, 'Stop the ride! I’ve had enough,'" he said. "It was better than anything Universal Studios has."
Sullivan has extensive bruising and lacerations on his face and what doctors believe is a chip in his cheekbone.
The tractor-trailer crushed the rear of Trooper Michael Fitzgerald’s cruiser, but the officer was treated and released Wednesday night, just hours after the accident.
State Police hailed Sullivan for preventing more serious injuries to Fitzgerald. A State Police chaplain visited Sullivan on Thursday, hand-delivering a framed State Police badge that Sullivan kept on his table as he ate a pasta dinner.
The driver of the 1995 Mack tractor-trailer, Duane Sylvia, 43, of Middleborough, was cited Thursday with operating to endanger, impeded operation, failure to yield to men and equipment in the roadway, and speeding in a construction zone.
