Lifesaving efforts to free a man from a burning tractor-trailer last year on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Hempfield earned his rescuer a Carnegie Medal.

The honor was bestowed upon David P. Duffey, 26, a Slippery Rock University student who was traveling on the turnpike after being released early from a drill weekend with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Duffey said it is a blessing to be honored alongside other medal winners who have been recognized for their bravery and heroism in helping others.

“I’ve had people call me a hero, but I don’t feel like a hero,” said Duffey of Midway, Washington County. “I was just helping a guy out. In my eyes, God’s the hero.”

Duffey was following the tractor-trailer, which was hauling mail, west on the highway Oct. 16 around 1:30 p.m. when state police said it crashed near milepost 69 between the Irwin and New Stanton interchanges. Troopers said the truck left the road and hit a barrier and pier holding up the Eisaman Road overpass.

Duffey said he pulled over and ran up to the cab.

“I just wanted to make sure the driver was OK,” he said.

It quickly turned into a life or death situation. Duffey spotted a small fire on the ground next to the cab and heard the driver — Shune E. Moore, 56, of North Braddock — say his seat belt was stuck. The passenger side door was jammed and the flames were growing outside the driver’s side, he said.

“Thank God, by the time I got back to the passenger side, he had managed to get his seat belt undone,” Duffey said.

He jumped through the open window, grabbed Moore and started pulling. Meanwhile, there were flames visible out the driver’s side window.

“I just knew the thing was going to erupt at any moment,” he said.

Another passerby stopped to help Duffey when Moore was about halfway out of the window. The first fuel tank exploded seconds after Moore was freed from the cab, knocking Duffey and the other passerby down.

They moved Moore farther away, and the second fuel tank exploded minutes later.

“I knew I had to do everything physically possible to get this man out,” Duffey said. “I was absolutely terrified, but most of the fear I was feeling … it wasn’t for my own safety, it was for him. There was no way in (expletive) I was going to leave him.”

Moore was hospitalized, police said. Duffey had a back injury.

Duffey is a sergeant in the 28th Military Police Company and worked as a customs agent during a deployment in Kuwait and Iraq in 2018 and 2019. He’s a graduate of Canon-McMillan High School and Slippery Rock University.

Duffey is working on a master’s degree at the university in criminal justice. A phone number for Moore could not be located.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission recognizes civilians who risk their lives while saving or attempting the save the life of another person. Duffey was one of 16 people who recently were honored with the Carnegie Medal. More than 10,000 people have been awarded it since 1904, including 20 people whose heroic acts took place within 10 miles of the 15601 ZIP code.

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