Good Samaritans recall rescue of 7-year-old and her father from crashed semi

RED WING, Minn. (FOX 9) - A rollover crash in Goodhue County trapped a father and daughter in the cab of their truck, but thanks to passersby, they weren’t trapped for long.

Several people stopped along Hwy. 61 near Red Wing and ran toward the crash. For one couple that helped, they say the rescue renewed their faith in humanity.

Ultimately, thanks to the Good Samaritans, the driver of a semi was lifted to safety after rolling his truck on the four-lane highway.

“I just told them, there’s diesel leaking on the other side,” said Peter Gillispie, of Northfield. “We need to get these people out of here.”

Peter and Tammy Gillispie pulled up right after the crash.

“You could just see a black cloud and when you got closer, you could see that the blackness was the underneath of that semi,” Peter added.

Peter immediately ran towards the semi where he says an off-duty firefighter and former combat medic were among the people who stopped to help.

“Then, somebody all of a sudden said, ‘OK, we’re going to hand the little girl out,’ and I went, ‘What?’” Tammy said.

That group of everyday people kicked in the windshield to free the 7-year-old passenger.

“The mom-grandma instincts kicked in and I got her and I ran down the median with her to get her away from the truck once he said the diesel fuel was leaking,” Tammy said.

Her dad, the driver, was next to save.

“He was just in a daze,” Tammy recalled. “I’m sure he was in shock.”

The whole scenario reminded this couple how good people can be.

“We don’t want praise or whatever,” Peter said. “We just want everyone to know how grateful we are with everyone that stopped to help this dad and little girl.”

“If it was our kids, our grandkids, we would hope people would stop like we all did,” Tammy said.