Facebook Post Thanking Trucker for Guiding Couple Through Rain Storm Goes Viral

Undated file photo of a truck on a highway in rainy conditions. A Facebook post detailing the actions of Brendan Foote, an Australian truck driver who guided a couple to safety in a downpour on Dec. 13, 2018, in Queensland, Australia, has gone viral. CC0/Pixabay

A Facebook post thanking a truck driver for guiding a couple through a downpour on an Australian highway has gone viral, with the driver saying he’s “absolutely gobsmacked by the interest” in the heartwarming story.

Aussie driver Emily Clarke first shared the post on Dec. 14, after she said they “encountered one of the most severe storms” while driving through Queensland—Australia’s second-largest state—last week.

“The water was lapping both sides of the Bruce Highway and in some parts, it was over the road,” Clarke wrote.

“We noticed the truck moving over to the left and I asked Jay, do you think he is pushing the excess water off the road for us?

“It was so bad that I could see only his brake lights at one point. It was unsafe to stop so I committed and tucked in behind the truck and he guided me, braking frequently and putting his indicator on the side that there was an upcoming hazard,” she wrote.

She spoke of having “a sick feeling in my stomach” that if they stopped the car on the side of the road to wait out the downpour, they would be in more danger.

The couple pressed on, tailing the truck until it turned off at a roadside pub.

“Jay got out of the car and met him as he got out of his truck to thank him,” she wrote.

“His name is Foote and he is from Melbourne, and just so humble. He said, ‘I could see more than you, and if you were my family, I would only hope that another truck driver would do that for them,’” Clarke continued.

She said they offered to buy him a drink and “thanked him from the bottom of our hearts for helping keep us safe.”

“To all the Footes out there on the road looking out for us during this crazy weather and especially at this time of the year when the roads are the busiest, we know you have a job to do but we appreciate you!” she concluded.

The post has since garnered over 12,000 shares and been liked more than 38,000 times.

Clarke later wrote a message shared from the truck driver, Foote, himself.

“Well, that’s very unexpected. I’ve been contacted by plenty of people today about a young family that said some very nice things about my conduct as a driver in some pretty terrible storm conditions in Nth Queensland yesterday,” he wrote.

“Without sounding like a total knob, thanks to everyone, including my beautiful family, friends, and strangers that have commented … I’m absolutely gobsmacked by the interest. It’s honestly nothing I wouldn’t think that any truckie wouldn’t do to try keep people as safe as possible,” he continued.

“Special thanks for the kind words Clarke family. Merry Christmas to all, and a safe and Happy New Year,” he added.

Clarke’s post sparked a flurry of comments.

“He deserves every bit of recognition sounds like a very humble bloke,” wrote Melanie Goldie.

Clarke later wrote that she contacted Jet’s Freighters, the company whose name is visible on the back of Footes’s trailer, to express her appreciation.

“I rang the Jet’s Freighters and spoke to Foote’s boss to make sure he can receive some recognition we couldn’t give him,” she wrote, adding, “hopefully this is a message for all the amazing truckies out there to keep doing what they are doing because without them Australia would actually stop!”

That’s so awesome to read Emily,” wrote Chrissy Vandaele, adding “Gotta love the truckies.”

“I’m blown away by how many people are just as amazed at the kindness of one man as I am,” Clarke wrote.