A man says he found his “true purpose” in trucking after nearly losing the use of his limbs in a serious car accident.
Sharoko Farley says that he’s always wanted to be a trucker like his cousins and great-uncles were, but took a few wrong turns before eventually reaching that childhood dream.
“I was born to a single mom, who was a junior in high school,” Farley said to 13 WMAZ. “We were forced to leave home because of religious beliefs due to teenage pregnancy…. I remember being at my grandma’s house just standing outside the road, and I’m out there like every child, taking your hands and trying to make the big trucks blow their horns as they come by. That fascinated me!”
Instead of getting into trucking when he was old enough “I was faced with many habits, such as drugs, alcohol and sex,” he explained. Farley went on to have some children, but continued his habits, until one night a tragic accident inspired him to change his ways.
“One Christmas Eve, on the way home from a Christmas party, my car hydroplaned and I was caught in a real bad rainstorm,” Farley said. “I was thrown into an embankment where I crushed both ankles, both legs, I broke my wrist, I bruised all ribs, and I bit my tongue in half, and I landed in a hospital bed, told I would never walk again for 8 months.”
“The only thing I knew was that when my kids walked into that hospital room, and they was looking at me, I realized I had become a man I did not want to be. I realized I had become a man, that if I had died in that car accident, then my kids would not have anything good to say about me. So, I made a promise to God and a promise to myself: If I could be raised up, if I could regain activities of my limbs, then I will find my true purpose.” And that’s when Farley decided to pursue the career he had dreamed of in childhood – trucking.
Farley was able to recover fully and ended up attending CDL School in Sandersville, Georgia at Oconee Fall Line Technical College in 2001. Once there, not only did he earn his CDL, but he even started his own trucking company – S&A Express.
“I started S&A Express, because when I got to Oconee Fall Line, those instructors told me they see better in me, they see greatness in me, they see business in me,” Farley said. “Just out of them speaking those words, I believed them and pursued.”
“You can always put freight on an airplane, you can put freight on a ship, you can put freight on anything– but how you gon’ get it to Walmart?” he said. “I’ve never seen an airplane pull up at Walmart, I’ve never seen a train pull up at Walmart. It’s always a truck.”
In 2017, Farley transitioned to the position of Commercial Driving Instructor at Central Georgia Technical College, where he takes pride in inspiring students like his instructors inspired him.
“I saw people who reminded me of myself, just that little boy who was lost and just needed somebody to be a guiding light to him,” he said. “So, I remain at a technical college system today because my mess has turned into a message.”
This year, Farley was named Instructor of the Year at the technical college where he works, solidifying his pride and success in what he does.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” he said. “People say all the time, trucking is not for the weak.”