Zach Miller only needed 10 more followers on his Instagram account. If he could just hit the 3,000 follower mark, the snowboarder, who competed in the 2022 Beijing Paralympics, hoped he could attract more sponsors and boost his training for the 2026 Paralympics in Italy.

The next day, his Instagram account exploded. And that was only because – thanks to Miller – a truck driving up Parleys Canyon did not explode.

“I didn’t know who Zach was, especially that he was wearing a helmet. He had his helmet on the whole time, so I didn’t know what he looked like,” said Hector Diaz, 34, of Payson, who was driving the truck. “All I know is that he was my guardian angel that day.”

Diaz, owner of HDZ Construction, was driving his white Ford F-150 on Interstate 80 toward Park City around 10:30 a.m. on August 9 to unload some materials at a construction site. He was just noticing white smoke curling around the truck when he noticed something else: a person on a motorcycle waving wildly at him and pointing at his truck.

The person was Miller. He was on his way from Salt Lake City, where he has called home since moving from Colorado last winter, to a training session at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association’s prestigious Center of Excellence in Park City. Miller said he likes to look at other cars on the road during his rides, especially when he’s riding his 2016 Yamaha FZ-09. The smoke rising from Diaz’s truck was impossible to miss anyway. It reminded Miller of the many times he’s witnessed engine failures while watching Formula 1, NASCAR and MotoGP races on television.

Then he saw the fire.

“As I got closer, I saw flames coming out of his engine,” Miller said, “and I thought, ‘This is an emergency!'”

Miller crossed several lanes and flagged down Diaz, who immediately turned on his hazard lights and pulled over to the shoulder.

“Your truck is burning! You’re burning!” Miller yelled at him.

Diaz didn’t have a fire extinguisher, which Miller said would have been the safest way to put out the flames. However, he did have a Costco crate of water bottles in the bed of the truck. The men couldn’t reach the flame, which was hidden behind the right front wheel, without opening the hood. So they opened it — which Miller admits wasn’t very prudent, as it could have fanned the flames and made the fire even bigger — and put out the fire. Another concern was that it was an oil fire, in which case the water may have contributed to the fire’s spread.

“That’s the thing, man,” Miller said. “We had 10 seconds to figure this whole thing out.”

Miller attributes his quick thinking and cool head during the meet to snowboarding competitions and a lifetime of video gaming. Miller has cerebral palsy and has not only qualified for the 2022 Paralympics, but has also won medals in the Banked Slalom Team (Gold), Dual Banked Slalom (Silver) and Snowboard Cross (Bronze) at the 2023 World Championships in Spain, earning him the 2023 ESPY Best Athlete with a Disability award and the Adaptive Male Athlete of the Year at the State of Sports Awards in Utah.

Diaz, in turn, thanks Miller for saving his life. He says he thanks God every day for the life he has had after nine years in prison. Since his release four years ago, he says he has not had a single bad day.

“I’m glad Zach was able to see (the fire). It could have been a lot worse,” Diaz said. “The further up the canyon I drove, the more likely the truck would have exploded while driving. I could have died.”

Shortly after they put out the fire, Miller drove back up the highway, wondering if anyone would believe him if he told them why he was late. Then he remembered that he had videotaped everything.

Miller hadn’t used his GoPro for a while and used it more as a decoration than as a safety device for his motorcycle helmet since the last time the storage was full. A few weeks ago, he deleted the old footage and started uploading it again after noticing that he had attracted an influx of Instagram followers from other motorcycle footage he had posted.

Those posts got him maybe 200 followers. The one where he helps Diaz? That got him more than 15,000 followers. As of Monday, it had 26.7 million views and more than 1.6 million likes.

Amidst this outpouring of admiration, however, two new accounts stand out. One is Diaz’s. The other belongs to his wife, Nayelie, who brought Miller to tears as she thanked him for helping Diaz get home to her and their 18-month-old son.

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