After the collision, the first thing Dwayne Patton saw was a car with its front smashed in.
Patton got out of his car, about to help the person who had crashed, when he noticed that the front end of his truck was torn up as well.
"It's just my instinct to go out and help," said Patton, a firefighter with the Rand Volunteer Fire Department.
Patton had been out of the house, trying to find a fire in Malden when he crashed on Feb. 6. He suffered three broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and broke his scapula, but worst of all, he totaled his truck.
"His truck is really his means to helping everyone out," said Lauren King.
Usually, Patton goes straight to fires when he gets the call, but because he didn't know the address, he went to the firehouse first. After waiting for a while, he decided to head home, but saw the fire engine and went to turn around. That's when the wreck happened.
Because Patton is a volunteer, he's not insured by the fire department. Patton only carried liability insurance, which has left him without a vehicle for the past few weeks.
The Chevy Silverado pickup truck was old (if it were a person, it'd be in high school) but it only had 136,000 miles on it.
"I had people trying to buy it from me, but I didn't want to sell it," Patton said.
King has started a GoFundMe account to help the 60 year old get a new vehicle.
"Something that's used and practical," King said.
So far, she has raised about $750, but wants to be able to buy him a sensible used vehicle.
King first met Patton when he began taking care of the landscaping at her house.
Since then, a friendship has blossomed.
After the snowstorm in January, Patton drove up the hill that King and her husband live on in South Hills so that he could help them get groceries.
"It's his attitude toward life," King said. "He really wants to help people."
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or on Twitter at @drdesrochers.