Tulsa Employee Answers the Call to Serve

When a cattle truck overturned near his neighbor’s home, Kyle Lane, senior fuel compliance specialist in Tulsa, rushed to help. His response is a powerful example of ONEOK’s Service Core Value in action.

After a semi-trailer truck carrying 109 cows overturned in a ditch near Kyle Lane’s home, his neighbors knew exactly who to call for help.

When Lane, senior fuel compliance specialist in Tulsa, arrived 20 minutes later, the sheriff and local fire department had already secured the scene. Working with others, Lane set up temporary fencing around the overturned truck while a wrecker company cut the trailer open to remove the cattle. All but 13 cows survived the accident.

Lane helped offload the cows, holding them in the fenced area and providing water to keep them cool in the July heat. Six hours later, he helped load the cows in another truck. Along the way, nine cows escaped to the woods and neighboring fields. Lane and his neighbors then worked into the evening and the next morning to recover each one. Thanks to them, the 96 cows surviving cows were safe on their way.

“I had no skin in the game,” Lane said. “I was just helping folks out that were in dire straits.”

Lane said he was inspired to help in part due to his work experience and training. Over the past nine years, he has responded to potential incidents and learned the importance of recognizing risks. That came in handy while people, trucks and equipment moved quickly to relocate cattle in the summer sun. But he says it really came down to helping his neighbors.

“When it’s where you live, you want to help because it’s all about caring for your fellow human,” he said.

His willingness to invest his time, effort and resources to serve his community is a great example of our Core Value of Service in action.

“I think it reiterates that ONEOK employees not only read the values — they live them,” Lane said. “It’s about having a servant’s heart, whether it’s for a coworker, the company or the people where you live.”

Once the cattle were back on the road, one of Lane’s newer neighbors said that she had never seen neighbors come together in a situation like this. That made Lane smile.

“It gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing that I was able to help somebody who was not in a good place because I would sure hope somebody would do it for me and my family in the same situation.”