‘I thought I was going to die.’ Man shares story about the moment he was trapped under a garbage truck
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IDAHO FALLS — Tyler Pickering was being crushed by a garbage truck for 10 to 15 minutes before he was able to reach into his pocket for his cell phone and call for help.
“Honestly, I thought that was it, underneath the garbage truck. I was going to be dead out in the middle of a field and that was my life,” Pickering told EastIdahoNews.com.
The incident happened on Tuesday near North 3700 East in Jefferson County early afternoon.
The 28-year-old has been a tow truck driver for seven years and works for Sunkiss Towing and Lindsay Truck & Towing.
Crushed by a cab
“It had the cab up on the garbage truck and I was trying to shut the cab so I could tow it. I got behind the wheel and inside the engine, I unlocked the safety latch for it,” Pickering explained. “Usually it has a thing that catches it, a bottle jack, and I am not sure if it wasn’t there or if it didn’t catch it but it just started falling on me.”
Next thing he knew, his back was pinned up against one of the front tires and he was getting crushed by the cab.
“I started throwing up, started gasping for air and I thought I was going to die,” he said. “I started screaming for help but nobody was hearing me besides two dogs and they started barking but they were trying to warn people and I started praying.”
He wasn’t sure what to do until he got an answer after praying: he needed to help himself. Pickering was able to reach his phone out of his pocket. He says he normally leaves it in his tow truck but this time it was on him – with only 2% battery life.
“It took me a couple of minutes but I finally got my phone out. Good thing I had it on me and if I would have dropped it, I would have probably been dead. I called 911,” Pickering said.
He was panicking while calling 911 and could barely talk to the dispatcher because of the pressure on him.
Calling for help
A recording of the 911 call shows the panic in Pickering’s voice:
Dispatcher: “Jefferson 911, where is your emergency?”
Pickering: “Help, I need help, I’m stuck!”
Dispatcher: “You’re stuck? Where are you at?”
Pickering: “I don’t know, can you record my location?”
Dispatcher: “What are you stuck in?”
Pickering: “A truck. I am a tow truck driver. Hurry!”
Dispatcher: “Try to calm your breathing down, OK?”
Pickering: “I can’t. I am getting crushed. … Hurry, I don’t know if I can last.”
Dispatcher: “I have people headed your way. Stay on the phone with me and try to stay conscious, OK?”
Pickering: “OK. Hurry!”
LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE 911 CALL HERE:
Central Fire District Chief Carl Anderson told EastIdahoNews.com emergency crews were called around 1:45 p.m. to the scene. Responders used the jaws of life to lift the cab off of Pickering.
RELATED | First responders save man trapped under garbage truck in Jefferson County
“I am grateful for them. It was a great relief when they got there. I was like, ‘Finally! Somebody’s here after being like, crushed for 10 or 15 minutes!'” Pickering said.
Getting crushed felt like an eternity. Looking back, Pickering believes the weight on him could have been anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds.
Rushed to the hospital
Emergency responders cut Pickering’s clothes off him to check for injuries. He was then taken by ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
“They did full scans on me and everything. I was fine,” Pickering said. “I must have had an angel watching over me or something.”
He said he was released from the hospital around 5:30 p.m. Miraculously, he had no serious injuries and is back on the job.
“Gotta go back to work … gotta pay the bills somehow!” Pickering said, laughing.
Helping another in need
After getting released from the hospital, Pickering joined his family for dinner to celebrate his survival. Later that day, he and his brother Zach Pickering went to tow a car to a dealership off Pioneer Road in Idaho Falls.
“We heard a loud boom. We saw a car on its side. People were yelling and screaming,” Tyler Pickering said.
A single-vehicle rollover crash happened on the east side of the dealership in a field, according to police.
Both Pickering brothers went to go see what had happened and discovered a driver and passenger inside a grey Chevy Equinox.
Pickering said he’s only called 911 three times in his life — once when he was a kid by accident, then two times on Tuesday. During the second call, he and his brother pulled the passenger out.
“We didn’t want to pull the other one out because they were seriously injured so we wanted to wait for the emergency crews,” Pickering said.
Idaho Falls Police Department spokeswoman Jessica Clements confirmed Tyler Pickering was the one who called 911. Idaho Falls Fire Department spokeswoman Kerry Hammon said when firefighters responded to the scene around 9:40 p.m., the passenger was already out of the vehicle. The driver was trapped and extricated by emergency responders. Both were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
It all happened the same day Pickering was injured but he knew he had to help.
“I would always help other people, especially in this community. All the other people would help me (so) I’m just passing it forward,” he said.
Looking back
Looking back at the moment Pickering was being crushed by a garbage truck, he says there’s one thing he might have done differently.
“Just to check just to make sure that bottle jack was there on that truck. I guess just be way more cautious. Just a good learning lesson for me,” Pickering said. “Crazy story. It will be one of the stories I tell my grandkids.”
He said it’s a unique situation that he probably won’t cross again because he doesn’t normally tow garbage trucks and he has no desire to go back to the scene of where it happened. He is grateful to be alive and for the help of first responders.
“They did great. Their response time was incredible and I am just happy they were there to help me and save my life,” Pickering told EastIdahoNews.com. “I am just so thankful. … I wouldn’t probably be here talking to you guys.”