Local man among accident survivors

As soon as Andy Escudero saw his wife Roxanne, he had forgiven her for misleading him.

Escudero, 59, was lying on his back in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula when she walked through the door. Escudero is among the 32 survivors of a Rimrock Trailways bus involved in an accident at 7:05 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 90 near Missoula. Two of the three people who were thrown from the bus in the mayhem died.

Police reports indicate the bus driver, despite going 10 mph less than the speed limit, was traveling too fast for conditions.

Escudero, who was sitting just five seats behind the driver, was thrown about the bus, suffering three broken ribs on his left side and a cracked sternum.

As he lay in the hospital and knowing the treacherous highway conditions, Escudero told his wife not to travel to Missoula to see him. After all, she already had driven to Kalispell, his intended destination, to meet him before the wreck.

Driving to Missoula then was out of the question, he insisted.

However, love can make people do seemingly impractical things.

“He was suffering. Having trouble breathing, and with a cracked sternum, I didn’t want to stress his heart. I didn’t want him worrying about me,” Roxanne said of their initial phone conversation after the accident. “So, I told him I’d sit tight; that I’d let the hospital keep me informed.”

Neither was fooling the other.

Escudero said he knew she’d come anyway.

And, Roxanne said nothing was going to keep her away, not even a well-meaning husband.

“He knew I’d come,” she said. “I was in Missoula in like …  90 minutes. You don’t stay married to someone for 32 years and then not come when they’re in trouble,” Roxanne said.

Roxanne said she called St. Patrick hospital when she was about five miles away to ask the operator for directions.

Upon arriving on the floor where her husband was being treated, a nurse approached her.

“The nurse said, ‘I think I know who you are,’” Roxanne said of the nurse’s reaction. “You’re not supposed to be here,” Roxanne said, quoting the nurse. “You were supposed to stay home because of the roads.”

“(The nurse) took me to his room, and she says, ‘I have a surprise for you,’ she said talking to Andy. Andy knew it would be me. He knew all along I was coming,” Roxanne said.

Escudero, because of his injuries, spoke little to the press.

“I’m all right,” he said in a soft voice. “It’s actually pretty painful right now. I’m going to let you talk to Roxanne. I’ve told her the whole story. Forgive me. It just hurts to talk.”

Roxanne recounted Escudero’s story, how when the bus began to lose control on the slickened interstate and how everything seemed to go in slow-motion.

“He said people were just flying everywhere. The bus spun in circles. People being tossed around and bags and suitcases were flying off the racks. It was crazy,” he said.

“The bus finally ended on its side, and for moments, Andy said, it was quiet, really quiet,” Roxanne said.

Roxanne said Andy felt tremendous pressure on his chest but managed to get up.

“He said when he got up there was just silence. All he could think about was getting out, that the bus might catch fire,” Roxanne said.

“As he tried to make his way out, he realized he stepped on someone, and Andy tells me he felt so bad that he could not help that person,” Roxanne said.

Andy ultimately got to a window and attempted to climb through the escape route that was now above him.

“He told me he got there and someone started pulling on him to help him out, getting him through the window,” Roxanne said. “He told me his only thought was to get away from the bus and that meant jumping down. That was a long way down now. Andy said that was so painful with his injuries.”

Roxanne said Andy laid on the ground in the fetal position waiting for rescue personnel.

“When they (EMTs) got there they began triage. They put a yellow tag on Andy’s ankle that meant he was serious. That got him treated.

“They found three people under the bus, two of whom died. I don’t know about the third person, but I think they are still critical,” Roxanne said.

Roxanne said despite Escudero’s wishes that she not make the trip, he was glad to see her.

“He was worried about black ice, me traveling on it,” Roxanne said. “Black ice is something we deal with here in Montana.”

Escudero was on the bus, returning from New Mexico, where he spent 10 days during the final days of his mother’s life. He arrived shortly after Christmas. A victim of lung cancer, Escudero’s mother died on New Year’s Day.

“Andy needed to go. It was something that he needed to do,” Roxanne said.

Of the 35 passengers on the bus, two died, 20 were treated and released from Missoula hospitals.

The bus driver was a 53-year-old veteran with a good safety record. Reportedly, the driver worked for Rimrock for one year after working for years for Greyhound.