An Oregon trucker is battling serious injuries after his semi-truck slipped off the road into a backyard swimming pool, said officials.
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The unidentified driver was using his semi-tuck to pull a dumpster around a tight curve on a Portland road when he crashed over the side of an embankment, falling into Portland Trail Blazers forward Evan Turner’s pool below. It was the NBA player’s chef who was the first on scene, KATU reported.
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“It sounded like a really loud screech,” Kenny James told the publication. He was standing in the kitchen when the accident happened. “I went outside thinking the truck would be outside on the other side of the street.”
“Then I went to the pool to help,” James said. “Half his body was under water, I would say his stomach down was under water.”
KGW shot some drone footage after a large truck crashed into Evan Turner's pool in SW Portland. Full story: https://t.co/Ry2KVxmoh0 pic.twitter.com/lrEtwfAEbJ
— KGW News (@KGWNews) December 20, 2017
The chef helped keep the driver’s head above the water for 10 minutes before first responders arrived to rescue him. According to Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau spokeswoman Captain Louisa Jones, several rescuers used the “jaws of life” to pull the trapped driver out of the mangled truck, reported The Oregonian.
His legs were pinned beneath the steering wheel, and after being freed by the rescue operation, he was transported to Oregon Health and Science University Medical Center with serious but reportedly non-life threatening injuries, according to KATU.
Garbage truck off ledge and into swimming pool in SW Portland. Driver injured but unclear to what extent. pic.twitter.com/xl9JfCfxVu
— Dave Killen (@killendave) December 20, 2017
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“I wasn’t aware that the driver was injured or how badly,” said Turner Wednesday afternoon through a Trail Blazers spokesman. “But I’m obviously grateful that the first responders were able to rescue him and I hope and pray he’ll be fine.”
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