Dramatic moment firefighters rescue truck driver from dangling cab after it was left hanging over busy Florida highway

This is the dramatic moment where firefighters saved the life of a truck driver who was caught in wreckage and left dangling from an overpass over a busy Florida highway. 

The rescue was so dramatic, it resulted in two other crashes nearby as a result of 'distracted drivers taking cell-phone video of the incident,' the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said in a statement. 

The fire department said that the 18-wheeler nearly went over the side of the overpass around 8am on Saturday in Palm Beach Gardens on the outskirts of West Palm Beach as a result of heavy rain in the area. 

Hero rescuers first secured the rig, then used a ladder to reach the stricken driver. He was harnessed and carried to safety within an hour of the incident occurring. The driver was able to walk on his own to an ambulance.

Firefighters were called to the scene in the West Palm Beach suburb of Palm Beach Gardens around 8:15am on Saturday 

According to a statement from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the entire rescue operation took around 45 minutes 

Rescue workers began by securing the rig and then worked on harnessing the driver and lifting him to safety 

Shortly after being freed from the cab, the driver can be seen thanking the heavens 

The driver was taken by firefighters to a nearby hospital where he was later released, spending the holidays with his family 

 In the video, the driver 'thanks the heavens for his safe rescue from this precarious situation,' the statement also said. It also said that he was 'very lucky to be alive.'

The man was rushed to a local hospital but was back with his family for the holidays.

The truck was carrying scrap metal, reports WPTV. The driver was the only person involved in the crash, which backed traffic up along the northbound lane of the Beeline Highway.