Jul 30, 2008 10:52 am US/Central
Collapse Survivor Just Hoped He'd Live To See Son
(WCCO)
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Gary Babineau had to quit his former job installing marble floors because of the heavy lifting. He now works with a precision milling machine. (File)
AP
Gary Babineau, a young construction worker from Blaine, thought he would never see his as-yet unborn son the moment the Interstate 35W bridge started to fall last year.
Before the night was through, he ended up helping a busload of children escape the wreckage without serious harm.
When WCCO caught up with him to ask about his thoughts on the approaching one-year anniversary of the crash, he was playing with his son Joe on the front lawn of his Blaine home.
"My baby was due in 2 weeks, just praying I was going to meet him," remembered Babineau.
He was returning home after work that night on the route he'd taken so many times before. In the mere seconds it took for his truck to freefall and crash at the bottom of the bridge, he remembers thinking he would die. It didn't take him long to discover that wasn't the case.
"For a little bit, I though my back was broken," he said, saying he also considered the possibility that he may never walk again. "The first thing I did was to wiggle my toes."
He crawled from the dust and debris, fearing more vehicles teetering above would fall on top of him and other survivors.
"I got my senses back and I heard all the kids screaming on the bus," he said.
That's when he says the adrenaline kicked in. He said he was simply reacting, thinking about the children inside and not his own peril. He knew it was urgent to get them off the bus. Nearby, the Tastee truck was already starting to smoke.
His actions that August evening assisting in the children's evacuation from that school bus caught the attention of President Bush, who later wrote a letter to newborn Joe and invited Babineau and his wife to celebrate Christmas.
"This is when we got to go to the White House Christmas party -- Liz and I, the President and First Lady," he said, showing a picture of the event.
The adulation and celebrity, he said, came for doing what anyone in his construction boots would have done. But he said it has left him a better person, with more appreciation for what really matters in life.
"I feel somebody was watching over me that day. I'm blessed and grateful that I didn't die that day," he said.
Babineau had to quit his former job installing marble floors because of the heavy lifting. He now works with a precision milling machine. He said he still has back pain and frequent pinched nerves, but came through the ordeal relatively healthy.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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