Sandwiched Between Trucks Oregon - A 27-year-old man whose pickup truck got mangled in the 26-vehicle pileup on Oregon Interstate 94 on Saturday escaped the crash with only scratches.
Kaleb Whitby was directly involved in the massive crash which has been described as one of the biggest in the state's history. No deaths were recorded, however the pileup involved 26 vehicles and left more than 100 people injured.
Whitby was heading to Council, Idaho when the wreckage occurred about 30 miles east of Baker City. Luck and some serious divine intervention is the only way to explain how Whitby survived the terrible crash with minor injuries.
"Thank God I'm still alive," Whitby said. "Now I've got to go figure out why."
On the foggy and icy interstate, Whitby's Chevy Silverado crashed into a semi truck that was jack-knifed across the road. The crash flipped him around, smashing him against another semi and splaying him toward an oncoming tractor-trailer headed straight for him.
"When I saw those lights coming, I knew he was going to hit me," Whitby said. "And then I closed my eyes and prayed that everything turned out OK. That was all I could do."
In a few seconds, Whitby's pickup was sandwiched between trucks and mangled like a soda can.
"It was just metal crushing and glass. It was just all fast and loud," Whitby said.
"I just held on to the wheel as tight as I could, tucked my head and just kept praying the whole time. After he hit, I just hoped that it would be over soon."
Whitby's prayers definitely got answered and his crushed truck formed a sardine-like case around his seat, while he was sandwiched between two trucks.
"When the second truck hit my back end, it spun my bed underneath the first trailer that I hit and continued to swing my nose around, and I guess put my nose underneath the second trailer. And as the trailer came around, it just kind of pushed me down and further into that-- that small V where you can actually see both the trailer within arm's reach on both sides. And so if they would've pushed me even a foot, it would have crushed me," Whitby said.
Sergi Karplyuk, the driver of the semi that crashed into Whitby was certain he had killed the driver of the pickup. Karplyuk treaded cautiously as he went about investigating the victim who he expected to be dead and mutilated.
"I see this head and he just like, starts speaking," Karplyuk said. "It's just this guy and he says, 'I'm okay, I just can't get out'. He was just so calm that I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'Are you sure you're totally okay? Your legs aren't crushed and your knees are all right? He kept saying he was fine."
Whitby left the scene of the accident with two Band-Aids and some ice above his left eye.
"When things like that happen, and what I've kinda come to realize, is that it is a miracle and that I need to take that into my life and remember it, and now I need to figure out who I need to be in this life and what I need to accomplish," he concluded.
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