Man found his ‘true calling’ in transportation after nearly losing his limbs in a tragic accident

A man says he found his “true calling” in the transportation industry after a serious car accident nearly left him without use of his limbs.

Sharoko Farley says he always wanted to be a trucker like his cousins ​​and great uncles, but a few wrong turns led him to realize that childhood dream.

“I was born to a single mother who was in the 11th grade,” Farley told 13 WMAZ. “We had to leave home because of religious beliefs, because we were pregnant in our teens… I remember being at my grandmother’s house just standing on the side of the road and being like every kid out there, taking your hands and trying to get the big trucks to honk as they went by. That fascinated me!”

Instead of starting trucking when he was old enough, “I was exposed to a lot of habits, like drugs, alcohol and sex,” he explained. Farley later had a few children but kept up his habits until a tragic accident one night caused him to change his ways.

“One Christmas Eve, while driving home from a Christmas party, my car skidded and I was caught in a heavy rainstorm,” Farley said. “I was thrown into an embankment where I broke both ankles, both legs, broke my wrist, bruised all my ribs and bit my tongue in half. I ended up in a hospital bed and was told I would never walk again for 8 months.”

“The only thing I knew was that when my children walked into the hospital room and looked at me, I realized that I had become a man I did not want to be. I realized that I had become a man, and that if I had died in that car accident, my children would have nothing good to say about me. So I made a promise to God and to myself: If I could be resurrected and regain the activity of my limbs, then I would find my true calling.” And that’s when Farley decided to pursue the career he had dreamed of as a child – truck driver.

Farley made a full recovery and attended CDL School in Sandersville, Georgia at Oconee Fall Line Technical College in 2001. There he not only earned his CDL, but even started his own trucking company – S&A Express.

“I started S&A Express because when I arrived at Oconee Fall Line, the instructors told me they saw more in me, they saw greatness in me, they saw a business in me,” Farley said. “Just when they said those words, I believed them and went after the goal.”

“You can always load cargo onto a plane, you can load cargo onto a ship, you can load cargo onto anything – but how do you get it to Walmart?” he said. “I’ve never seen a plane stop at Walmart, I’ve never seen a train stop at Walmart. It’s always a truck.”

In 2017, Farley transitioned to a position as a professional driver instructor at Central Georgia Technical College, where he takes pride in inspiring his students as his instructors did with him.

“I saw people who reminded me of myself, of that little boy who was lost and needed someone to be a shining example,” he said. “That’s why I stay in a technical college today, because my mess has become a message.”

This year, Farley was named Educator of the Year at the technical college where he works, which underscores his pride and success in doing his job.

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” he said. “People always say being a trucker is not for the faint of heart.”