JACKSON, Tenn. — A Jackson, Tenn., man who will carry the Olympic torch Wednesday in Canada said he'll feel like a real Olympian.

James "Duba" Johnson, 57, will run with the torch for about 300 meters in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

He was chosen by AT&T, a sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team. Johnson, an AT&T outside plant technician, was selected for helping rescue a cable TV technician in October 2008 near Bourg, La., after Hurricane Gustav.

The cable worker, Scotty Winebarger, was entangled in electrical lines, had been shocked and was dangling below the bucket of his extended utility truck with his safety harness wrapped around his neck.

Johnson maneuvered his bucket under Winebarger, reached behind him and cut the lineman free. Winebarger survived but was badly burned.

Johnson said he and his partner, Jeremy H. Greenway, also an outside plant technician, "did what anyone else would have done if possible."

Johnson's trip to Canada will be his first outside the country.

"This really is something I will never forget," he told The Jackson Sun before leaving. "I will pass this story along to my grandkids and their grandkids."

Johnson said he plans to hold the torch high so everyone can see it.

"I will feel like an Olympian doing this," he said.

The Winter Olympics will be in Vancouver in February and March.