Airman narrowly avoids head-on-collison

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Justin Weaver
  • 31st Fighter Wing
AVIANO AIR BASE --  A day of sightseeing quickly turned into a whirlwind of chaos as an Airman and his family on their way to a resort in Germany witnessed and were almost part of a terrible car crash recently. 

Tech. Sgt. Vincent Bess and his family had just spent the day at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles in Austria and were making their way back to the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort when an oncoming vehicle began to swerve out of control. 

"The road had just opened up to beautiful mountains and fields on both sides of the road," said Sergeant Bess, NCOIC of personal wireless communication with the 31st Communications Squadron. "We were enjoying the scenery when I noticed an oncoming gray van beging to swerve from side to side." 

"First it swerved heavily to the left and then back to the right, causing it to go up on two wheels. As the wheels of the van came back down it swerved hard left again, crossing the center line." 

As soon as Sergeant Bess saw the van swerve, he automatically began to slow down, but when the van swerved again, he knew they were in trouble. 

The van struck another van directly in front of them and Sergeant Bess swerved to the left around the crashed van and then back right -- shattered glass pelting their car as he maneuvered past. 

"We barely missed hitting a semi-truck when I swerved left and thankfully we made it safely back into our lane," Sergeant Bess said. "I pulled over, slammed on the brakes and quickly ran to the aid of the victims. However, when I was within 10 feet of the flipped gray van, flames shot up from the engine." 

Keeping safety in mind, Sergeant Bess turned to his wife and yelled for the fire extinguisher and for her to move their car - in case there was an explosion. 

Two other individuals arrived on scene with fire extinguishers and helped put out the fire, Sergeant Bess said. 

"I immediately went to the driver's window of the van and tried to open the door, but it was jammed," he said. "As I ran to the back of the van, two other guys tried prying open the driver's door." 

Sergeant Bess flung open the rear doors of the van and tossed aside groceries, bikes and other items blocking his path to the driver. As he crawled through the van he noticed the driver's left leg was pinned underneath the dashboard and she was unconscious and injured. 

"I raised her head so she wouldn't drown in her blood, Sergeant Bess said. "With my left hand, I began working on getting the driver's seat to lean back so we could get her out." 

As Sergeant Bess helped stabilize the driver, the other men bent the door open and an off-duty nurse jumped in to help support the victim's head. Just when Sergeant Bess thought things were getting under control, a fire reignited in the engine of the van. 

"I heard them yell 'fire,' however, I could not and would not leave without the woman," he said." Luckily, someone outside had another fire extinguisher and was able to put out the fire." 

"The nurse took control of the victim so we could clear enough space to move the driver's seat back," said Sergeant Bess. Once her leg was free, we cut the victim's seatbelt and lifted her out of the van." 

The victim was then put on a stretcher and emergency response crews began to work on her, he said. A medical evacuation helicopter arrived shortly after. 

"All the military training and self-aid buddy care kicked in and just clicked when I needed it to help save her life," Sergeant Bess said. "My family and I were rather shook up, but thankfully we were kept safe. We honestly believe an angel guided my hands because there is no way I could do that again."