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Truck crash survivor returns to thank rescuers
Originally Posted Online: Nov. 03, 2009, 10:11 pm
Last Updated: Nov. 03, 2009, 10:46 pm
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Print this story | Email this storyLast Updated: Nov. 03, 2009, 10:46 pm
By Lyle Ernst, correspondent@qconline.com
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PORT BYRON -- It was a little before noon on Oct. 3, and Russell Oost had his Mack truck heading west on I-80 toward Cordova. The Enon, Ohio, truck driver was pulling a tanker, and as he took the I-80 ramp to Illinois 84 near Rapids City, the tanker's contents of the tanker splashed so violently that his rig rolled into the ditch. On Tuesday, he returned to the Quad-Cities with another delivery - one of thanks to the men who pulled him from the wreckage. "It's very special that people you don't know save your life," he said. "I can't thank these people enough." Rapids City Fire District Day Officer Mark White heard the call come in at 11:35 a.m. He and other Rapids City firefighters rushed to where Mr. Oost's truck had rolled. Seeing the wreck, Mr. White immediately called for help from the LeClaire. "They were instrumental in getting the driver out," Mr. White said. He also called the Colona Hazmat Squad because no one, other than Mr. Oost, knew what was in the tanker. And Mr. Oost wasn't getting out of his truck anytime soon. Sgt. William Francis of the Illinois State Police was in his patrol at the bottom of the hill. He said he ran to the overturned semi-trailer and immediately began yelling, "Driver, are you OK?" Mr. Oost told him, "Yeah, I'm alive." "I kept thinking, how bad am I?" Mr. Oost recalled. "I had a bad cut on my head, and the blood was running into my ear. It felt like being underwater." It took more than an hour for firefighters to extricate him from the semi-trailer's cab. That delay had Mr. White worried that they would not be able to remove Mr. Oost fast enough to keep him alive. He called for a helicopter to fly Mr. Oost to Illini Hospital. From there, he was flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Peoria. His Tuesday return to Port Byron was less adventuresome. Mr. Oost said he drove from Ohio to make a point to thank the fire department personnel, medics, rescue people, Rock Island County Sheriff's Department and Illinois State Police who responded quickly and efficiently. Mr. Oost noted he lives in a small town similar to Port Byron, adding he knows that emergency volunteers don't receive the credit they deserve. "The medic on the copter said much longer and I wouldn't have made it," he said. 
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