‘Just felt so unreal’: Bend moving company crew rescues four people, dog after SUV rollover crash near Santiam Pass
(Update: Adding video and comments from moving crew)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A crew with Bend's Higher Ground Moving travels over the Santiam Pass every week, helping people move their belongings. But last weekend, a typical trip turned into something much more: a rescue of four people after a serious rollover crash into a ditch along the icy highway.
"Just felt so unreal at the moment. Like, I didn't know how to explain it. So I just kind of blanked," a member of the moving crew said. "I'm just glad we were able to give a helping hand."
Kyle, Anthony, Henry and River were headed west on the pass when they spotted the crashed SUV.
The vehicle carrying four people traveling back from the Coast had flipped off the slick road and into a deep ditch after a winter storm brought almost three feet of snow to the pass last weekend.
The team from the moving company jumped into action to help those stuck inside, including a dog.
"I ran down there and checked to see what how the window situation was looking or how we were going to get these people out of the car," one of the movers said. "And then we started looking around for something sharp to break the window. And we broke the window, and then proceeded to get their luggage out of the back of the truck and just started helping them up the hill."
Items in the moving van helped with the rescue, as snow tools and heavy items were used to break the glass and build steps in the snow.
A passer-by quickly posted photos of the heroic actions on social media, and the occupants of the car shared their appreciation for the moving crew's help, a fast-spreading online good-news story, unbeknownst to the Higher Ground movers who continued on with their moving job.
"We were blown away," a crew member said. "I mean, we just we got back on the road and we had, you know, we got to work. And we didn't realize it 'til the end of the day, when it had already had a huge reaction going on."
