DENTON, Texas — "It was crazy, cold, cars everywhere," Fabien Sanchez said.
When the going got tough for semi-drivers in Denton during the ice storm, that's when this guy got going in his pickup truck. Sanchez doesn't run a towing company but he made it his business to help truckers stuck on ice.
"I was like, man I am in a 1500, and an 80-thousand-pound truck trying to get up a hill. I didn't think my truck would do it, but I put it in [4-wheel drive], and let her rip," Sanchez said.
Fabien shared these videos showing just some of the semis he helped pull uphill Monday and Tuesday in Denton. Pulling the 18-wheelers on ice also took them out of harm's way as Denton police officers used their lights as a roadside warning.
"See all these cops on the side of the road, they really can't do much. So, I go up there and say, hey, let us pull these people out," Sanchez said.
Impressed by their kindness, Denton police shared this tweet about Fabien and six other pickup drivers, whom he met for the first time. But don't call Sanchez a hero, because helping is just part of his character.
"It's just something that I like doing," said Sanchez. "I like helping people."
That's probably why when we caught up with Sanchez Thursday afternoon, he was once again rescuing another driver in trouble because of the ice on the road. Sanchez drove his pickup truck to Krum, Texas, where a young driver got into a single-car crash after sliding on the ice on a rural dirt road. Fortunately, no one got hurt. But the driver needed help getting his car home.
"I am pulling them out because they are stuck after losing control of their vehicle," Sanchez said.
Sanchez said he and the other good Samaritans helped so many drivers during the ice storm in Denton they lost count. Although several people offered them money they refused and helped free of charge. Sanchez said he hopes the people they helped will just pay it forward by helping others in need one day.