Ed Midkiff was late and 1,000 miles from home when he saw two vans slam into each other in rural Pennsylvania. He hopped from his truck and comforted a 2-year-old girl while EMTs treated her injured mother and older sister. All this took place while his mother looked on during her first ride with him. The police saluted him for his actions, and the little girl's family call him her "Guardian Angel."

According to police, the crash occurred June 16 in East Rockhill Township, Pa., on Route 313. Cindy Pfeiffer of Quakertown, Pa., had just started through an intersection in her minivan, with her daughters Lauren, 6, and Rebecca, 2. A van coming from the opposite direction stopped, then turned left suddenly and slammed into them. The 81-year-old driver told police he saw Pfeiffer but thought he could beat them through the intersection, she says.

Midkiff, a driver for Ben Shinn Trucking of Knoxville, Iowa, was waiting for the light when the accident occurred. His mother was asleep in the bunk. He pulled into a parking lot and ran to help.

After checking the older couple, Midkiff ran to Pfeiffer's van. When he saw the 6-year-old was bleeding, he ran to his truck, grabbed some clean towels, told his now-awake mother what was happening and ran back. While others helped Cindy and Lauren, Midkiff crawled through the van's back door and lifted Rebecca out. "She was in her car seat but struggling so hard to get out I was afraid she'd hurt herself," he says. "She was screaming, but after I held her a while, she quieted down. Then she wouldn't let me give her to anyone else." After the ambulance arrived, he held her until she went to sleep and was taken off for treatment. The Pfeiffers suffered broken bones, bruises and deep cuts. All are recovering, though slowly.

In a letter to Midkiff, Police Chief H. Randall Dilling wrote, "In this day and age, it is rare that persons such as yourself interrupt their daily lives and routines to stop and assist other persons who have been involved in traumatic incidents such as this one. Your actions and assistance on June 16 are highly commendable and certainly reaffirm one's faith in human beings as compassionate and caring individuals."

"Ed stayed with Becky like he was her angel," Cindy says. "I think of him as her guardian angel." Midkiff, too, says fate was at work. "I was running a day late and should have been someplace else. I have this strong feeling I was put there."

Midkiff's mother, Georgia Bartlett, wrote Road King about the incident last year. "I am very proud of my son," she wrote. Shortly before this issue went to press, she passed away. "But she was happy to know it was going to be in the magazine," he said.