SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio couple is being credited with helping save a man’s life after they stopped his swerving car in the middle of Loop 410 and helped get him medical attention.
Rene Villarreal and his girlfriend, Andrea Walker, were driving Thursday afternoon along Loop 410 near Harry Wurzbach Road when they noticed a car drifting across lanes and hitting the barriers.
“He kind of veered into the wall and it caught my attention,” Villarreal said. “It just made me worry. I was like, ‘Hey, honey. Record this.’ And when she was recording, I saw him cut in front of that 18-wheeler and then instantly my head was just, like, ‘I’m going to do something about it.’”
Video from the couple shows Villarreal maneuvering his truck in front of the out-of-control vehicle and gently bringing it to a stop in the fast lane.
“I just brought him to a slow, complete stop in the fast lane,” Villarreal said. “So, I held up the whole fast lane, and then, that side of the road. There were a few people that were watching what was going on, even though it was a split-second ordeal. There were other people that were aware.”
San Antonio police responded to the crash on that stretch of Loop 410. According to an SAPD report, the driver was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
Villarreal said once the vehicle stopped, bystanders also jumped in to help.
“I just started waving people down and a nurse showed up, two guys showed up,” Villarreal said. “We pulled him out and within four, five minutes, it was great. He was getting CPR, and he was getting the help that he needed.”
Walker posted video of the incident on TikTok. As of Saturday, it has garnered more than 3 million views and ultimately reached the driver’s family.
“I got thanked by the family, and they offered to pay the damages on the truck,” Villarreal said. “But there’s really no damage on the truck. They did not hit the body of the truck at all. It’s just the full replacement bumper.”
Walker said she hopes the viral video encourages other drivers to pay attention and be willing to help when they see something wrong on the road.
“I think you could really save someone or make a difference if you just slow down a little bit, pay attention,” Walker said. “Because we’re kind of all in this together.”
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