Calgary Trucker Goes Extra Mile to Return Lost Purse, Declines Reward and Leaves No Name

A truck travels along the Trans-Canada Highway at dusk in Banff National Park in Alberta on April 21, 2017. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

A Calgary truck driver has been recognized as a highway angel for driving three hours to return a purse containing money and jewelry that a woman had accidentally dropped near Golden, B.C.

Truck driver Daljit Sohi made a stop at the rest area on Nov. 29, 2024, when he saw Shailly James, of High River, Alta., inadvertently drop her purse during the stop while assisting her 4-year-old child, according to the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA).

As James drove away, Sohi got into his truck and followed, intending to return the purse, which contained James’s ID cards, $1,100, a gold chain, and her credit cards.

James was concerned when she noticed a truck following her, she said in a message she wrote to Sohi’s trucking company later. When she stopped about three hours later to fill up at a gas station in Sicamous, B.C., Sohi took the opportunity to return her purse.

“I was incredibly grateful for his honesty,” James wrote to Sohi’s employer in a note shared with The Epoch Times. “As a token of appreciation, I offered him a $500 reward, but he kindly refused and did not provide his name or any details about his company and left.”

James took note of Sohi’s trailer number and was able to contact his B.C. employer, Abbotsford-based trucking company Triple Eight Transport Inc.

James said she wanted to express her gratitude to Sohi for his “integrity and kindness,” and later sent him an iPhone to the company’s address as a token of appreciation, a spokesperson for the company told The Epoch Times.

Sohi was named a TCA Highway Angel on Dec. 9 and has been nominated for the 2024 Highway Angels of the Year Award.

Canadian Trucker Recognized for Rescuing Trapped US Driver

Sohi is not the only Canadian nominated for the annual award.

On July 1, 2024, truck driver Joseph Carroll from London, Ont., was recognized as a TCA Highway Angel for rescuing a trucker trapped under debris in a 12-foot ditch after a crash.

Carroll was heading north, past Wapakoneta, Ohio, at around 5 a.m. on March 29, 2024, when he saw a tractor-trailer in front of him lose control and crash into a bridge guardrail, according to the TCA.

“In just a matter of seconds there was gravel all over the highway,” Carroll said. “The transport truck was lying on its side, the lights were dim and there was no roof on the truck.”

Carroll pulled over and went down the ditch to check on the driver, who was still alive but trapped beneath the debris. Carroll pushed the truck’s heavy roof off the driver and walked him up to the shoulder of the road.

Carroll said he was “floored” that the driver survived the serious crash. “He could walk; he did not have a scratch,” Carroll said.

Carroll works for Elgin Motor Freight, a transportation company based in London, Ont. He and the driver he rescued have remained in contact, the TCA said.

“I have to help,” Carroll said. “It’s who I am—I don’t care if I’m late for anything!”

Created in 1997, the TCA’s Highway Angel program recognizes North American truck drivers for the “exemplary courtesy and courage they have shown others,” according to the program’s description.

More than 75 drivers receive the distinction every year, and more than 1,300 have been honoured so far. Recipients get a certificate, a patch, a lapel pin, and truck decals, and their companies receive a certificate.

Sohi and Carroll are two of the five finalists for the 2024 Highway Angel of the Year Award, which will be presented in March to the three top vote recipients. Voting ends Jan. 10.