Ben, 21, was taken for a two-mile ride down a highway when his wheelchair got stuck in the grille of a semi-truck as he crossed an intersection in Paw Paw.
The truck driver had no idea he was pushing the man down the street Wednesday afternoon until he turned in to the lot of his business and was stopped by an undercover police officer who spotted him on the highway.
Ben Carpenter's father, Donald, told The Associated Press that his son had started to cross at an intersection Wednesday afternoon in Paw Paw, about 140 miles west of Detroit. The light changed to green while his son was in front of a semi, which started moving.
The wheelchair's handles became lodged in the grille, the father said, and the wild ride started.
Motorists called 911 on their cell phones, and a pair of undercover police officers who happened to be nearby saw what was happening. They pulled the truck over and told the disbelieving driver, Donald Carpenter said.
The chair was undamaged except for losing most of the rubber on its wheels, he said.
"I tried to yell for help but no one could hear me," said Ben, of Kalamazoo, who has debilitating muscular dystrophy that put him in a wheelchair 7 1/2 years ago.
The truck, he said, was going 50 mph. Ben always straps himself into the chair, so he felt secure he wouldn't fall out. But he was pretty sure he was going to die.
