On the morning of 14 January 1984, at the risk of his own safety, Louis Gallant saved the life of another trucker whose 18-wheeler had lost its brakes on a steep highway near North Sydney on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The man radioed that he was speeding out of control down Kelly's Mountain and about to jump from the cab to save himself. At the wheel of his tractor trailer a short distance ahead, Mr. Gallant in turn radioed his intention to stop the runaway van, well aware that he himself might be pushed off the road. Reducing speed to narrow the distance between them and to cushion the impact, Mr. Gallant instructed the driver to ram his reefer into his trailer then pushed hard on the brakes. The two vehicles came to a screeching halt, less than a hundred and fifty metres from a dangerous curve at the foot of the mountain. The man sustained no injuries.