CAVENDISH, Vt. — A 77-year-old truck driver from New York was rescued from the Black River early Tuesday morning after he lost control of his tractor-trailer on a snow-covered Route 131.
Donald Darrah was driving on the state highway around 2:50 a.m. and he “lost control of the vehicle as he was going around the snow-covered corner” near Upper Falls Road and the Weathersfield town line, Vermont State Police said in a news release.
His truck wound up on its passenger side in the middle of the river, and Darrah stood on top of the tractor-trailer, where he was able to communicate with first responders. However, because of the water depth and temperatures, members of the Proctorsville and West Weathersfield Fire departments’ cold water rescue teams were called out and helped bring him to safety.
It was snowing at the time and Darrah, of Lake Luzerne, N.Y., was “slightly hypothermic,” police said. The tractor-trailer was totaled.