A trucker was rescued from her wrecked rig by a couple of bystanders in Oregon on Monday after losing control during a lane change, sending her truck plunging into the Columbia River.
The accident occurred on January 15th at approximately 5:15 p.m. outside of Corbett, Oregon.
According to KATU, 52-year-old truck driver Suzanne Brault was traveling along Interstate 84 when she went to change lanes. As she was checking her side mirror, Brault lost control, sending her rig veering into the shoulder where she struck a disabled SUV and crashed through the guardrail.
The rig then rolled down a steep embankment and landed partially submerged in the Columbia River, and that’s when several witnesses jumped into action.
“I could see the trailer part of the truck just tumbling over the side,” said Clifton Robinson, a witness to the crash.
“The front end of the cab was submerged in water… [the truck driver] was in trouble and hanging on to the door,” Robinson continued.
Two other witnesses then rushed to the scene and attempted to free the truck driver while Robinson called 911.
“One grabbed the other one and made a human chain to get to the [trucker]. Once they got her out, they carried her back,” he continued.
Brault sustained only minor injuries in the crash and was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated.
The two passengers in the stalled SUV, which was stopped on the shoulder after running out of gas, also sustained injuries that were not life threatening, and are expected to make a full recovery.
According to KOIN, it took officials several days to decide how to best remove the rig from the river without spilling its load of oats or rupturing its fuel tank, and cleanup of the wreck continued into Wednesday afternoon, shutting down one lane of I-84 for a mile long stretch.
Despite the difficult cleanup, Robinson and the other Good Samaritans say that they are just happy that the truck driver got out okay.
“When we saw the wreck I told my wife, ‘I gotta help these people,’” Robinson added.
“I was really impressed to see that kind of humanity.”
