A B.C. RCMP officer is being hailed as a hero after saving a 15-year-old girl by throwing her to safety before a truck pinned him against another vehicle, crushing his leg.

Const. Jim Moir had been talking to Buffy-Anne Troy by the side of the road early Thursday after the Troy family truck slid into a ditch near Yale, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said in a statement.

When a truck coming down a hill lost control on the ice, it started a series of collisions that ended with a pickup truck pinning Moir against the Troy vehicle, Thiessen said.

But before being struck, Moir threw Buffy-Anne to safety in the ditch.

“This was obviously a split-second decision," said Thiessen. “He clearly put her safety ahead of his own.”

He said the girl was shaken up, but Moir, 45, is in hospital being treated for a crushed leg and is expected to be off work for several months.

There were no other injuries.

Moir, who's assigned to Fraser Valley traffic services, has been an RCMP officer for 18 years.

Yale is about 140 kilometres east of Vancouver.