GINA B. GOOD / PVT The Dodge truck in the foreground was extensively damaged on the driver's side when it was hit by the minivan seen in the background as the truck was turning onto Leslie Street from Highway 372. The unidentified man, in the background, and woman pictured were in the minivan. Advertisement

Dick Lewis loves his truck.

So when he and his wife Sherry were involved in an accident on Highway 372 at Leslie Street Sunday, June 14, his first concern was for his 2001 Dodge pickup.

Rather than going to the hospital to check out his aching shoulder and arm, he stayed with his truck until it was towed for repairs and promised his wife he would see his doctor the next day.

The accident occurred as the Lewises were returning from a friend's 50th wedding celebration in California. The couple was towing their RV back to Pahrump from the vicinity of San Jose, where it was temporarily stored. After 600 or so uneventful miles, Dick slowed down, activated his turn signal and began to turn left on Leslie Street.

The truck driver behind him, who was towing a flat bed, slowed to a stop. However the driver of the minivan behind the flat bed allegedly sped up, crossed a solid highway line to pass the truck and violently collided with the Lewises' vehicle.

No one was taken from the scene for medical treatment, but the impact of the crash sent the minivan about 50 to 100 feet off the highway, where it hit a new telephone pole waiting to be installed.

Sherry Lewis, who was riding in the passenger seat of the truck, said neither she nor her husband saw the minivan approach. "It was a total shock," she said at the scene. She was obviously shaken but when she saw Fire Chief Scott Lewis arrive, she said she felt relieved.

"This is the second time Scott has saved me," said Sherry. The first incident happened when her car caught fire in a church parking lot after a craft show. Sherry, also known as the Fairy Gourdmother, was displaying and selling her painted gourds at Our Lady of the Valley Roman Catholic Church when her engine began to smoke. "I didn't know what to do, but Chief Lewis handled it easily."

Sherry also said, "We're just hoping the truck can be fixed. Dick doesn't want a new one. He loves that truck."

Auxiliary units from the Nye County Sheriff's Office closed down both highway lanes, directing cars down a steep grade or giving vehicles the option to wait or turn around while the scene was investigated. Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Services responded to the scene with Engine One as well as an ambulance crew. Desert Towing sent two trucks to move the vehicles off the highway.