A Hidden Valley truck driver died July 21 while trying to help at a rollover crash on Interstate 10 east of Benson, according to InMaricopa and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Timothy Patsalos, 28, was hauling a load to Florida when he saw an SUV overturned during a storm and stopped to help, his mother, Jessica Soto, told InMaricopa. DPS said he was trying to warn approaching drivers when a Nissan X-Trail struck him.
Patsalos was taken to a hospital and later died. No other injuries were reported in the crash, according to DPS.
Soto said her son had often stopped to help strangers and described him as someone who always went out of his way for others. She said the final act of his life fit the way he had lived.
Family members said Patsalos had recently celebrated his 28th birthday and was preparing to move to England to marry his fiancée before eventually returning to Arizona. He had been living next door to his mother and younger sister in Hidden Valley after moving from Pennsylvania last summer.
