SEATTLE — University of Washington marching band members who were involved in a rollover crash on the way to the Apple Cup arrived back in Seattle on Saturday afternoon.
“We all have our own ways of handling it, but we’ve been doing pretty well,” said Adam Krpan, a member of the Husky drum line who was riding several buses behind the one that crashed. “We’re recovering.”
The UW band cancelled its trip to the rivalry football game in Pullman after one of its charter buses crashed Thursday night on Interstate 90 near George, Wash. Of the 52 people on board the bus at the time of the crash, 39 were taken to local hospitals. No one was seriously injured.
Senior Chris Serica, who’s the drum line section leader, said he jumped out immediately to help when he heard what happened.
“We handled the situation as best we could given our resources,” he said.
After the crash, George families answered a call from a radio station and brought Thanksgiving dinner for band members and UW staff.
“We’re very thankful to the people of George to help us out, give us some food until we can figure out how to move forward about our schedule,” Serica said. “Thankful to the people of Moses Lake for housing us.”
Although the Husky band wasn’t in attendance for the Apple Cup, they still had a presence.
The Cougar band learned the UW fight song “Bow Down to Washington” after the crash and performed it before the game.
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A section of the stands at Martin Stadium was also marked off and left empty in honor of the UW band members.
Another college band from across the country also wished the UW band a quick recovery Friday. The University of Florida Gator marching band posted a video on social media of band members saying UW was in their thoughts and prayers. The video also showed the band performing a demonstration in their honor.
Serica said the amount of support the UW band has seen from across the country was “ridiculously amazing.”
“The band community really comes through for each other, and that’s just really awesome,” he said.
