WILLIAMSTON, Mich. – A man was driving on I-96 when a steel beam crashed through his front windshield last week.

Johnnie Lowe, a father of three, thought his life was over when the steel beam came loose from the truck in front of him. The beam got stuck on his steering wheel and he’s still in disbelief by what happened.

Lowe was driving a 26 foot box truck to Lansing on Thursday to pick up auto parts for DNC Logistics. He said a flatbed truck changed lanes when the steel beam fell off and hit the freeway.

“When it bounced, saw it was steel and said, ‘This is going down,’ braced myself,” he said.

The steel beam stopped inches from his chest.

A steel beam came just inches from hitting a Michigan man's chest when it crashed through his truck. (WDIV)

“It folded the dash and the steering wheel so the piece of steel was sitting on the lip of the dash,” he said.

Lowe managed to stay calm and pulled over.

“Looking at the windshield sliced. Six feet of steel, half a foot from me,” he said. “Like being in an explosion of glass. Took a vacuum to suck it out of my ears.”

After he called the police Lowe called the company.

“I thought he was pinned. I wouldn’t think it would go any other way,” said Jerry Babcock, the GM of DNC Logistics.

“I’m one lucky man. I feel like I should play the lottery,” Lowe said.