Sims Goodman III

On May 8, 2002, Sims Goodman III #71357 had stopped at the Flying J Truck Stop in Gretna, Nebraska. Little did he know it would change the lives of a family from Gresham Nebraska.

Here is a copy of the letter sent to us from The Thomazin family of Gresham, Nebraska.

"I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about one of your employees, Mr. Sims Goodman III, that came to my aid on the night of May 8, 2002. My daughter, husband and myself were eating dinner at a Flying J Truck Stop near Gretna, Nebraska. We had been shopping in the Outlet Mall near Gretna and were about 90 miles from our home in Gresham, Nebraska.

The waitress had just brought our dinner to us and I had taken the second bite of my dinner when a piece of beef lodged in my throat causing me to choke and to stop breathing. I tried in vain to get it to come up by itself and when it did not and I knew I was in trouble. I stood up when my husband also noticed I was having trouble and he panicked right along with my 16-year-old daughter. My husband Nick has very limited experience and knowledge of administering any type of first aid and no experience of administering the Heimlich maneuver. He knew he could not help me and asked for help from the people who

were in the restaurant, when out from the back of the restaurant came Mr. Goodman.

He very calmly moved my husband aside, grabbed a hold of me and preformed the Heimlich maneuver. It took several tries and finally it dislodged. The only thing l could do was turn to him, hug him and I cried. At this point the people in the restaurant cheered and applauded because of his efforts to help me. It was wonderful!

I truly feel that the good Lord placed Mr. Goodman in that restaurant that night to help me and I will be forever grateful to him for what he did for me. You know in this day and age, not just anyone would have helped and he did it without asking any questions and without any reservations. My husband, my daughter and myself truly feel that he saved my life that night and from this point on he will always have a special place in my heart. It makes me a believer that there are still good people on this earth and Mr. Goodman is certainly one of them."

ATS is proud of the effort Sims made in placing the value of someone elses personal safety so high and helping when he could.

Sims has been nominated and accepted into the Highway Angel Program which recognizes worthy individuals for random acts of kindness, who keep America moving.