GRANT COUNTY, Wash. — A Moses Lake woman is searching for the off-duty firefighter that helped her husband after he rolled his SUV while avoiding a moose on Nov. 9.
Anastasia Horner’s husband was traveling back to the family’s new Grays Harbor County home on Nov. 9 with the rest of their belongings from their Moses Lake home. Horner said her husband and father of their four children was 20 miles outside of Moses Lake on I-90 at about 7 p.m. on Nov. 9 when he had to swerve to avoid a moose in the road.
The SUV, a Chevrolet Tahoe pulling a trailer full of their belongings, rolled over and came to rest on its roof with all of the windows shattered, said Horner, who was on speakerphone with him when the crash happened. The crash pinned his foot to where he couldn’t get out.
Luckily, an off-duty firefighter was behind Horner’s husband when the crash happened and stopped to help him, according to Horner.
“We were lucky enough that an off duty firefighter happened to be behind him when it happened. I could hear him talking my husband trying to figure out how to free him,” Horner said. “He never left him. It took 15 minutes before help got there and he stayed there the whole time.”
Moses Lake woman searches for off-duty firefighter who helped husband after crash
Horner said the firefighter stayed after help arrived for the 45 minutes it took to free her husband from the wreckage.
When Horner’s husband asked for someone to get his phone from the SUV so he could tell her where he was and that he was OK, Horner said a first responder went into the wreckage to get it for him.
The crash caused Horner’s husband to suffer four broken ribs, a fractured clavicle on both sides, a fractured sternum, a bruised heart, whiplash, cuts and road-rash, she said. But she is just happy he is OK.
The crash also destroyed the Tahoe and ripped apart the U-Haul trailer carrying their belongings, throwing them across the roadway, she said. It took three hours for crews to clear the scene, according to Horner.
But a set of roses that her husband had bought her for a special occasion managed to make it through the crash unscathed, she said.
“It’s a Thanksgiving miracle that my husband is still here and my roses are also,” she said. “He must have a guardian angel. It doesn’t matter that our things are gone, our car is gone, but my husband is here with me and our 4 kids and there is nothing else I want or need.”
There is one more thing that Horner wants: to learn the name of the firefighter that helped her husband and to let him know her husband will be OK.
“I don't know his name or anything about him, but he should know that we will never forget him and will always be thankful for his help,” Horner said. “I would love to know his name and hear what happened from him. Also, I think he should know my husband is OK.”
If you know the firefigher who helped Horner's husband, email newstips@krem.com.
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