A Mississippi truckdriver risked his own safety Tuesday to avoid hitting a car carrying a child. No one was injured.

Charles Wade of Calhoun City was hauling a load of cotton on Mississippi Highway 8 near Grenada at about 9 a.m. when two cars stopped suddenly in front of his truck, The (Grenada) Daily Star reported.

Wade slammed his brakes, but saw he wasn't going to be able to bring the rig to a stop without first hitting the car in front of him. Seeing a child in the car's back seat, he turned the semi onto the road's shoulder to avoid the car.

The heroic maneuver shifted the truck's 40,000-pound load, causing the tractor-trailer to turn over onto the side of the highway.

Wade was able to walk away from the accident.

"I feel all right, other than my pride," he told the newspaper. "It's better this than a kid hurt."