A wayward boulder has stalled truck driver Matt Ruscheinski鈥檚 career for the time being.
The 44-year-old 91原创 resident, who has been hauling modular buildings for the past 20 years, was driving his custom-built truck past Spences Bridge, B.C. on Jan. 18 when his rig was crushed by a falling boulder.
Ruscheinski, who said he is stiff and sore from the accident and recovering at his 91原创 home, is now waiting for ICBC鈥檚 decision, since his truck was totalled by the giant rock.
鈥淚t happened super fast,鈥� Ruscheinski said, about the incident in the Fraser Canyon.
鈥淏asically, I was driving down the highway in a straight stretch of road for a little ways and I saw boulders the size of beach balls coming off the side hill.鈥�
He has seen small rocks fall and hit the ground in his past travels, so with no traffic in sight, Ruscheinski moved his truck to the centre of the road to avoid them 鈥渋n case any of them bounced on the road a little.鈥�
But just as he was approaching the small rocks, an entire section of the rock wall gave way.
鈥淓verything fell right in front of me,鈥� Ruscheinski said. 鈥淚t was literally in the blink of an eye. I don鈥檛 even think I was able to hit the brake pedal before I hit the rock.鈥�
Ruscheinski said the sound of the boulder hitting the front driver鈥檚 side of his truck 鈥渨as a giant crunching noise.鈥�
鈥淚 went from 80 km/h to nothing in about three feet,鈥� Ruscheinski said. 鈥淚t was instant. Thank God I had my seat belt on.鈥�
He says his back and left shoulder are pretty sore from the accident, because of the way his seatbelt grabbed him and pushed him back.
鈥淚 took the dashboard to the leg and my left hand took a pretty good wallop between the dashboard and the windshield, because I was holding onto the steering wheel,鈥� Ruscheinski said.
While he has been stuck behind fallen rocks, waiting for highways to reopen, this is the first time Ruscheinski has been directly involved in a rockslide
鈥淚鈥檝e been stuck behind mudslides and the odd avalanche, stuff like that, but nothing like this,鈥� Ruscheinski said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never been in any kind of accident, anywhere close to this.鈥�
Ruscheinski said he鈥檚 lucky to be alive, but unlucky in the sense that he had just finished building his truck.
鈥淚鈥檝e been in the industry for a lot of years, but this is kind of my first step into going in as an owner/operator,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little stressful now, at this point.鈥�
Ruscheinski said ICBC has already declared the accident an 鈥渁ct of God.鈥�
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 my fault or anything, but I still haven鈥檛 heard back from them as to what, or when, or how they are paying me out or anything, so basically I鈥檓 sitting in limbo, not making any money while they鈥檙e figuring their stuff out,鈥� Ruscheinski said on Thursday, Jan. 24.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like you can make another truck appear. It鈥檚 not like you can go and rent one of these trucks anywhere to go back to work. I鈥檓 kind of stuck waiting.鈥�
troy.landreville@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on
