Rich Rogers, a former firefighter, says he sprinted toward a bus crash on Highway 39 near Mackenzie and performed life-saving steps for a passenger.
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A bus crash on B.C.’s Highway 39 near Mackenzie on Wednesday turned an ordinary family drive into a rescue after Rich Rogers ran toward the wreckage.
Rogers said his son and wife were in the vehicle with him when the bus went off Highway 39 and into a ditch. He described hearing his son repeatedly scream “no no no over and over” and said it happened “in seconds.”
Rogers said he initially hoped the bus was empty, then started sprinting toward it once he saw it wasn’t. He said there were 20 people hurt inside and out, including one passenger who had been thrown from the vehicle.
Rogers said he could not feel movement or see the passenger’s chest rise at first, but that “Thankfully, a lot of blood came out and the person started breathing again.”
He said he then climbed back into the bus and saw that the vehicle was still running. Rogers said he put the bus into park and shut the keys off.
Rogers said there were “[a]t least two or three people in the vehicle that were unconscious.”
Rogers said he is a former firefighter and that his training guided his response: “I knew I just had to help. There was nothing else. There was no other option.”
His wife called 911, and Rogers’ wife later described him as “the biggest hero of that day.” Rogers said he does not see himself that way, saying, “I don’t really think of myself as a hero. I just think of myself as [in] wrong place, right time, right skills.”
Northern Health said all 20 people were treated in hospital, with 15 since released and no information provided on the remaining five. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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