PRESCOTT, Wis. — The community of Prescott, Wisconsin is grieving after losing a beloved city employee who died helping a stranded driver Monday night.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office says the accident happened just before 8:00 p.m. Monday on State Road 35 near Prescott, Wisconsin.
Officials say 49-year-old Douglas Whaley stopped to help a 24-year-old mother and her 3-week-old baby after their car got stuck in the ditch.
The sheriff’s office said a box truck crashed into Whaley’s truck, severely injuring him in the process.
Officials say Whaley died at the hospital a short time later.
“He was always one that would never leave anyone behind, that’s why it happened,” Whaley’s boss, Prescott Public Works Superintendent Mike Kinneman says.
“He just liked to help people. He was always on the move. Always helping people when he could.”
Coworkers say Whaley was good at everything he set his mind to.
"He did the welding, he did the plowing, electrical work he was good at,” Kinneman says.
City leaders agree that Whaley was a jack of all trades.
"One day we're asking him to be on one of our streets pouring a sidewalk and the next day we're asking him to pull his plow truck in and take an engine apart and fix it,” Prescott City Administrator Matt Wolf said.
Coworkers say Whaley was still working on that snow plow the day he died.
He was waiting for a special part to arrive so he could finish the project.
“I don’t know how we’re going to do all of this work without him,” Kinneman says.
“It’s going to be a big pair of shoes to try and fill.”
Kinneman says it's been a tough week for him and his crew, but he's not surprised to hear that Whaley died while helping someone in need.
"No, that didn't surprise me a bit. I've seen him on his dump truck standing on top throwing sand out to a semi that was stuck. He was willing to help everybody,” Kinneman says.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office says the 3-week-old baby and a 13-year-old girl were also treated for minor injuries after the crash.
The other drivers were not injured.