Truck crash, icy river rescue: 'It looked like a bomb went off'

ROGERS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Sitting in his living room in Otsego with his leg in a cast, Christopher Kirk says his mind can't help but replay the events that led to his knee injury.

"It was insane. It was the most unbelievable thing I've seen. I just seen how he was struggling and how much he needed help," said Kirk.

Kirk says he was behind a box truck as it hit a guardrail on the right side of Highway 101 in Rogers Monday afternoon, and then another guardrail on the left before plunging into the Crow River below.

"That whole thing launched up in the air and apparently rolled once and hit the river and it looked like a bomb went off," said Kirk. 

Kirk says he called 911 and then did what he calls a "baseball slide" down the 15-foot embankment where he waded through waist-high frigid water to reach the truck.

There he found the 25-year-old driver, James Nahl, pinned in the cab, unable to release himself from his seatbelt.

"His left shoulder was in the river. His head was partially in the river. He had his face pointing to his right to keep his head or mouth above water and he was trying to breathe that way," said Kirk. 

Kirk says he pulled Nahl up onto the flatbed, where the box had been obliterated in the crash.

"I said, okay, we're in the middle of a river, soaking wet, freezing cold right now. Let's get the heck out of here and warm up," said Kirk. 

As the two made their way back up the hill, Kirk says they were helped by other bystanders who stopped to lend a hand.

"I would think that most people in this situation, seeing someone like that and that much trouble that most people would try and do everything they could," said Kirk.

But Kirk says his loved ones have mixed emotions about his actions in the river.

"Oh, my wife said that I should get a hero's award, but also a stupidity award. I'm not a great swimmer," said Kirk.

Kirk believes he has a torn meniscus and plans to get an MRI on his knee next week. 

The box truck driver, Nahl, was taken to a nearby hospital, with minor injuries.