Gina Sears and her 15-year-old son, Sean, were spending a quiet afternoon inside their Route 67 home Saturday (Dec. 15) when, about 4 p.m., things suddenly became anything but quiet.
“We heard a horrible screech,” Gina Sears said. “Horrible.”
What they had heard was a two-car crash that heavily damaged a minivan and left a pickup truck lying on its side against a guardrail.
Car parts littered the road. The odor of burnt rubber lingered in the air.
The Searses sprang into action.
“I threw the phone at my son and I told him to call 911,” Gina Sears said. “I rushed out the door and he ran out the door behind me.”
Police, firefighters, and EMTs began rushing to the scene.
Gina went to check on the van, the first vehicle she saw upon leaving her house.
The van’s driver seemed OK — but she soon noticed a more pressing situation developing. A truck, flipped on its side, next to a steep hill, with a father and boy who looked about 3 years old inside.
“I went to go open the door and I turned my head and I see a white truck lying on its side,” Gina Sears said. “It was actually on an embankment and everyone thought it was going to fall.”
The embankment slopes about 15 feet down at a 45-degree angle.
A handful of passersby tried to make sure the truck was stable and wouldn’t slide down it, she said.
As the passersby stabilized the truck, Sean, a sophomore at Oxford High School, quickly offered a set of helping hands.
Luckily, the vehicle’s occupants weren’t trapped inside.
“He jumped up on top of the truck, the passenger’s side, he opened up the door and pulled the kid out,” Gina Sears said.
The child’s father was soon able to get out of the truck as well.
The child was transported to the hospital to be evaluated.
Sgt. Dan Semosky, Oxford’s Resident State Trooper, said Monday (Dec. 15) afternoon that an accident report wasn’t yet available, but that the child’s injuries were not serious.
Route 67 was shut down for about an hour until wreckers cleared the damaged vehicles from the road.
Sean said Monday (Dec. 15) he didn’t even have time to think during the incident.
“It was pretty much pure reaction,” he said of his quick response. “And then shock. I was shocked. There was a tire that landed 45 feet away (from the crash) in my front yard.”
Meanwhile, Sean, who had planned to join the fire department’s “explorer” program for teens, might have a change of heart to something more focused on treating victims of accidents.
“Now he wants to become an ambulance explorer,” Gina Sears said.
Explained Sean: “In case anything else were to happen I could go outside and immediately do checkups.”
