A former Yukon trucker has been forced into early retirement after his act of kindness collided with an unexplained act of violence.

Alex Fraser raised his two children in the Yukon while driving truck for Pacific Northwest Moving.

He and his family left in 1988 after his daughter's graduation, but have maintained ties with the territory.

That's the kind of person Fraser is: He keeps up with friends and, as a professional driver, always stops to make sure others who are having trouble on the road are all right.

But on a Friday night in September, Fraser's days as a conscientious trucker ended.

The 67-year-old man was driving home to Vernon, B.C., along the Yellowhead Highway when he saw a car parked on the side of the highway.

Its hood was up and the headlights were shining in his direction. One man was standing on the shoulder, waving him down, while another stood nearby.

Fraser pulled over, as he always does when he sees a stranded motorist, his wife, Carol, told the Star this week.

"Not everyone stops,” she said. "A lot of people will just keep driving, but Alex would always pull over because he knows what it's like to be out there on the road by yourself.”

Fraser got out of his truck, leaving the engine running, and walked toward the two men.

"He said, ‘Do you have a problem?'” Carol recounted, "and they said ‘No, but you do.'”

Fraser told his wife and police that the last thing he heard was a voice behind him saying, "You truckers are all alike,” before he was knocked unconscious.

He awoke six hours later.

One side of his face had been smashed in, he was covered in blood and too weak to stand, but somehow he managed to drag himself to the truck, which was still running, and pull himself into the cab.

At daybreak, he awoke in the truck's sleeper compartment and realized he would have to drive himself to the nearest gas station for help.

"The next morning, he drove 37 km to get to the hospital,” Carol said. "You've got to have some sort of inner strength to do that.”

He pulled into a service station in Blue River, opened the door of the cab and literally fell from his truck.

"The people at the service station were absolutely wonderful,” Carol said. "They made sure he was OK and took good care of him until the ambulance came to get him.”

At Royal Inland Hospital, Fraser was treated for a damaged eye socket and three broken bones in his cheek. He underwent reconstructive surgery to repair his battered face, but his trucking career is over.

"He won't be going back,” Carol said. "We'll be seeing if we can sell the truck.”

Why the men on the Yellowhead attacked Fraser is still a mystery.

They stole nothing, left his truck running and undamaged, and Fraser doesn't remember hearing anything other than the comment about truckers all being the same.

"They figure it was road rage,” Carol said of what she has heard from RCMP investigators. "Maybe a truck cut them off and they figured they'd take it out on the next trucker who came along.

"The funny thing is, he was broke down a while ago and no one would help him. Then he tries to help someone else and this happens.”

The Frasers are not optimistic about the men being caught by police, but Carol said she has faith that one day justice will be done.

"I do believe one day they will get caught and punished for what they did. I think that what goes around comes around.

"One day, one of them will be out drinking and he'll say something about it and a trucker will be sitting nearby and will hear him.”

In the hopes that someone may know something, the B.C. Truckers' Association (BCTA) is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people who attacked Fraser.

"I have never, in the 16 years I've been with BCTA, heard of anything like this,” Paul Landry, the president and CEO, said in a press release.

"BCTA is committed to all forms of safety in trucking, whether that means road safety or safety for truck drivers. We want to help bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Carol said the association has warned other truckers not to get out of the vehicles when they pull over to help a stranded motorist.

"Just put your head out the window and let them know you're calling a tow truck,” she advised.

"Truck drivers are known for helping others on the road,” Landry said.

"I'd hate to be in a world where they can no longer choose to be Good Samaritans. I hope that others who feel the same way will come forward.”

Anyone with information about the attack is encouraged to call the Valemont, B.C. RCMP or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers.

The truckers' association is also collecting donations to assist with Fraser's unplanned retirement.