TERRELL, Texas — It was just after 6:30 a.m. on Friday, July 28, when Jordan Hayes of Terrell, Texas, was heading home from work.
TERRELL, Texas — It was just after 6:30 a.m. on Friday, July 28, when Jordan Hayes of Terrell, Texas, was heading home from work.
It was in the moments following that Hayes says she felt helpless as she witnessed a motorcycle crash on State Highway 34 just north of the Terrell city limits.
Police say the driver of a pickup truck failed to yield the right-of-way when he crossed State Highway 34 at North Frances Street — into the path of 38-year-old John D. Anglin who was traveling southbound on his motorcycle.
Anglin didn’t have time to take evasive action and struck the truck, according to police.
In what would be Aglin’s last moments, Hayes stopped, rushed to his side, administered first aid, and held his hand in comfort until EMS loaded him into the back of an ambulance in preparation for air transport to a Dallas-area hospital.
“I've had a hard time accepting that there was nothing else anyone or myself could have done to help him,” she tells inForney.com. “I felt a little helpless.”
Earlier this week, Hayes met with Anglin’s family after they sought to connect with the Good Samaritans who stopped to render aid.
“I never got to meet Mr. Anglin but I can tell he was so loved and will be missed by so many people,” she said.
Anglin was laid to rest earlier today.
“Hearing that she cared enough to stop and take care of him like he was her own family, means the world to us,” Amber Heald, Anglin’s sister-in-law, told inForney.com. “We are so grateful for her being there with him when none of us could be.”
“Jordan was an angel sent to care for my brother-in-law John, as he was in his last moments here on earth,” she said.
Ben McLeod was on his way to work Friday morning when he came upon the accident. He attended Anglin’s visitation on Tuesday night.
“He is another amazing human being whom we are so grateful for being there for John,” says Heald.
Meeting with these Good Samaritans, “angels from heaven,” have provided the family with peace and comfort.
The family is now turning their attention to motorcycle safety awareness in hopes their story will save other motorcyclists' lives.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, at least one motorcyclist dies in a crash every day on Texas roads. In 2016, that number was 493 with another 2,006 being seriously injured, an increase over the prior year by six and five percent, respectively.
“About half of fatal motorcycle crashes result from a car or truck colliding with it, often because drivers simply don’t see it or misjudge how close it is and how fast it’s traveling,” stated TxDOT.
Intersections and changing lanes are the two places where serious motorcycle collisions commonly occur, according to TxDOT.
“The combination of congested roadways, distracted driving, and the difficulty of seeing motorcycles in traffic has led to far too many preventable fatalities each year,” stated TxDOT.
TxDOT provides these tips to safely share the road with motorcycles:
• Look twice for motorcycles, especially at intersections.
• Obey posted speed limits.
• Use your turn signals and check your blind spot before changing lanes.
• Don’t follow a motorcycle too closely.
• Always assume motorcycles are closer than they appear to be.
• Give motorcyclists a full lane.
