Dean man suffers heart attack as his truck is stolen and he’s left on the side of a road

UPPER STEWIACKE, N.S. — A victim of home invasion and theft. Left stranded at the side of a lonely country road.
Despite being subjected to such trauma, Terry Rogers's story has an up side.
The 68-year-old man was asleep in his Dean home early the morning of June 20. A man suddenly broke in and forced him into his own truck, at knifepoint. A woman waiting outside also got in the truck and Rogers was ordered to drive.
As they travelled along Highway 289, in Upper Stewiacke, the other man put his foot on the brake and there was a struggle. Rogers received cuts to his hands and face. He was forced out of the vehicle and the others fled with his truck.
“He was short of breath and had chest pain,” related Rogers’s daughter, Beth Mingo. “It was the first sign of any issue with his heart.”
His phone stolen as well, Rogers tried to flag down someone for help. Several vehicles passed by before one pulled over.
“I was heading home and saw him on the side of the road,” said Gordon Tucker, a local musician who was heading home from playing in Halifax. “He was trying to flag me down and I first thought he’d gone off the road and needed a lift, but when I was backing up to get him, he didn’t make any effort to get to my car. When he got in he told me what happened. He was trying to catch his breath and there was a sound in his throat that made me think something more was going on. Within a couple of kilometres I pulled over and called 911.”
Tucker said RCMP and an ambulance responded quickly, considering how far into the countryside they were. Volunteers with the Upper Stewiacke Fire Brigade also showed up in case they were needed.
Subsequently, Rogers received medical help and it was then a discovery was made pertaining to his heart.
“It was almost a blessing in disguise because they found blockages and now he’s getting the treatment he needs,” said Mingo. 
Rogers had bypass surgery on Tuesday. There were no complications.
Mingo said her father bought the 2009 Silverado less than a month ago. If he’d still had his old one, she added, thieves probably wouldn't have bothered because it was so rusty.
“He really wants to get the stuff he had in the truck back. He had tools he used when he helped friends with things.
“I’m just relieved that he’s doing better. The truck's replaceable; he’s not.”
As a musician, Tucker’s been driving at night most of his life. Often, he won’t encounter another vehicle between Brookfield and Upper Stewiacke when he’s heading home.
“When I saw Terry, he looked familiar and I didn’t feel it was a dangerous situation,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to set the ball in motion to get him help."
Rogers’s truck is black and has an extended cab with a tool box in the back and silver bed rails on each side of the box. It carried the Nova Scotia plate CNT 832 when it was stolen.
Police have since received a tip that the truck was spotted at a service station in Sackville, N.B.
Anyone who has information that might help police find the truck is asked to call RCMP at 902-490-5020. Anonymous tips can be provided to Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or by using the P3 Tips App.