17-year-old Daniel Johnson saved people’s lives without even knowing it.

On Jan. 6, 2004, he was driving on I-80 near Milesburg, Penn., and he spotted some sort of trouble ahead on the highway. Dan pulled off the road, called 911, and ran up and down the highway berm trying to halt traffic. He managed to convince three people to stop their vehicles and climb to safety. Unbeknownst to any of them – the “trouble” down the road was a 50-vehicle accident that left six dead.

On the day of Danny’s heroics, it was very cold and snowy. Dan wore only a T-shirt and jeans, but he didn’t feel the cold. All he felt was the need to help as many people as he could.

Dan also assisted in other rescue efforts that day. He physically helped pull a number of people out of their cars, and helped cut away parts of tractor trailer cabs to get to truck drivers who were stuck. Without Daniel’s help, who knows how many more lives would have been lost in this terrible accident? He is a hero to us all.

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