MAGIC VALLEY — The Idaho State Police called it a heroic rescue. The photos on social media left people stunned — a couple hanging off the side of the Malad Gorge Bridge after their truck tipped over the edge.
A truck driver, who was able to help with the rescue, said he was at the right place at the right time.
“Yesterday it wasn’t even my day to drive that truck, they just asked me to drive that truck to go pick up a tractor in Glenn's Ferry and that's one that normally just sits and I just so happened to be in that truck. If it wouldn’t have had that truck with me, I think that chain might have broken," Rod Drury said.
Rod was passing the Malad Gorge bridge just seconds before the accident happened. The pickup truck had gone over the edge of the bridge and was being held only by a safety chain connected to a camp trailer.
“I thought it was a fatality accident because I knew a truck had gone over the edge, so I got out of my truck and I was like I don’t even want to look over," Drury said.
Moments after pulling over, Idaho State Police arrived along with the Gooding County Sheriff's, they came up with a plan to use Rod's semi-truck to keep the truck from going over.
In a press release, Idaho State police say a witness saw the camper the driver of the pickup truck pulling a trailer and lose control of the car. Their camper hit the right shoulder barrier before the truck tipped over the bridge.
The Malad Gorge is 80-100 feet below the bridge.
The couple in the car were transported to a nearby hospital with no life-threatening injuries. Their two dogs were saved as well.
Rod calls the experience one that will make you believe in god.
“You know this is a god thing. I’m looking at life a little bit differently today that’s for sure," Drury said.
