In a scene that you might see in an action-adventure movie, George Boneillo risked his own life last Friday to save the lives of other drivers on the Long Island Expressway.

The adventure began when Boneillo, a longtime resident of Levittown, saw a van, about 100 yards ahead of him, around Exit 51, driving in the HOV lane, smashing into the concrete barrier wall. People were pulling off the LIE, to avoid being struck by the swerving vehicle. According to Boneillo, who was driving a 24-foot truck, he drove up next to the van at which point he noticed that the driver's eyes were rolled up, his head was tilted back, and his hands were not on the wheel. "That's when I realized I had to do something real quick," said Boneillo.

Boneillo, a professional truck driver and volunteer firefighter in East Meadow, used skills from both these professions in his rescue mission.

According to Boneillo, once he determined that the driver was not in control of the van, described by Suffolk County Police as a 1998 Ford, he drove his truck in front of the van. "The most important thing that I had to do was to go the same speed as he was going," said Boneillo. He noted that if he went too slow the van would have hit the truck too hard, and because the driver of the van, 59-year old Richard Shaw, was not wearing a seatbelt, he could have gone through the windshield. "So the most important thing was to keep my truck the same speed he was going and then slow up gradually so once he bumped me he backed off a little but he slowed down and he bumped me again about a quarter of a mile down the road and the second time he hit me I was able to apply my brake and come to a complete stop," added Boneillo. The whole process of stopping the van took about two minutes, with Boneillo allowing the van to hit his truck a total of three time before it came to a complete stop.

Once Boneillo had the van stopped he jumped out of his own vehicle and into the van to put it in park and shut off the ignition before calling 911. He and an off-duty police officer then pulled Shaw from the van. Boneillo explained that he originally thought that Shaw had a heart attack but realized that was not the case because he was standing up by the time the ambulance came.

Shaw was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital. He apparently suffered a seizure of some sort and doctors are in the process of doing more tests. Shaw told Boneillo that nothing like that had ever happened to him before.

Boneillo said that he has never had an experience like this either. "In 30 years of driving, I have never, ever experienced anything like this in my life." He added that after the police had taken his statement he continued on his route to make the next delivery and did not think about the incident again until his wife, Roxanne, called him to tell him that newspeople had called wanting to speak with him. It was only then that he let what happened sink in.

The news crews were not the only people who wanted to speak with Boneillo. Richard Shaw, his wife and his daughter also wanted to speak with him and thank him for saving Richard's life. According to Boneillo when Shaw got on the phone, he said, "Thank you very much for saving my life," and George responded, "Thank you very much for living." After that conversation George spoke with Richard's wife. Boneillo said, "She was telling me she's in a wheelchair and she goes, 'I hope I don't cry. He's my whole life. I don't know what I would do without him. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.' She just started crying, I started crying, Roxanne started crying. It was just a great feeling."

Shaw said that he does not remember anything, adding, "I remember getting on the expressway, the next thing I remember is waking up in an ambulance." He added, "Not only did he save me, God knows how many other people he saved because he said I went from the right lane all the way into the HOV lane, so if somebody was in front of me or next to me, it would have been really disastrous. So it's not only me, he probably saved a couple of people. The gentleman's a real hero, a real, honest to goodness hero."

Boneillo, when asked how he felt about being dubbed a hero, responded, "I don't think of myself as a hero. I just think that I did what I had to do."

His wife, Roxanne, feels her husband has earned his hero status. "I can't believe he did that. Knowing him, this is the way he is, but I wouldn't have had a clue of what to do if I saw something like this. I would have been one of the people getting off the expressway...I'm definitely proud of him. It's nice that it had a happy ending," she said.

Boneillo is also pleased that the story had a happy ending. He said, "I feel terrific about it...it's nice that I was able to help somebody like that, it really was a great feeling."

Even though Roxanne is proud of her husband, she says that she is glad that she was not there to witness George risking his life.

"I really wasn't thinking much about myself, because I was in this big truck. I was more concerned about this gentleman. It's possible his front wheels could have gone to the right and he could have caused a lot more, he could have killed somebody, or himself," said Boneillo. He noted that it was a very spur of the moment reaction for him.

Boneillo concluded, "To do something like that, it makes me feel good. I felt good that I was able to save this guy's life."