Passers-by save lives in crash that claimed one

Adam Huening

A two-vehicle collision early Saturday evening left one dead and two seriously injured, but it could have been worse without the intervention of quick-thinking civilians.

According to the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department (DCSD), at around 5:20 p.m., Ruth Hayes, 64, of Greensburg was killed when the vehicle she was driving westbound on State Road 46 west of Greensburg, a 2006 Mercury Monetgo, collided with a 1996 Toyota T100 pick-up truck traveling eastbound. According Decatur County Coroner Doug Banks, Hayes drifted into the path of oncoming traffic.

“For unknown reasons, she went left of center into oncoming traffic and collided nearly head-on on the driver’s sides of both vehicle,” Banks said.

Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Donald Bosse, 53, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and his passenger, Gerard Bosse, Batesville, were seriously injured in the collision. According to the DCSD, passers-by pulled the two men from the truck as it burst into flames. DCSD Sgt. Brian McCullough said five men traveling behind the Bosses witnessed the crash and decided to intervene. Todd Hager, Westerville, Ohio; Brian Cunes, Cincinnati; Joe Stanwick, Columbus, Ohio; Andy Erickson, Cincinnati; and Mike Meyers, Dayton, were at the same charity bike ride event as the Bosses although they had never met. The Bosses were trapped in the vehicle and flames began to rise under the hood as emergency responders were being dispatched. McCullough said their quick thinking prevented the scene he would find when he arrived minutes later.

“I don’t know if one person could have changed the outcome of it, but all of them working together did,” McCullough said. “There’s no doubt in my mind had they not taken the initiative and intervened and pulled those men out, we would have had three fatalities instead of one.”

Hayes, according to Banks, did not have a chance because the injuries she suffered in the crash were too devastating. McCullough was told by a witness Hayes was slumped over the wheel as the car drifted across the road, hinting she may have had a medical condition. He added there were marks from hitting the brakes. Banks said determining if she had a heart attack or some other medical episode would be nearly impossible given the injuries suffered in the crash.

“There’s no medical way you could know (if she had a heart attack). There’s only one person who knows that and she died,” Banks said.

He ruled the cause of death non-survivable injuries from a motor vehicle crash.

At the scene, after determining Hayes had no pulse, emergency responders continued the work started by the five passers-by. McCullough noted the truck was completely engulfed in flames when he arrived four minutes after the crash occurred. He said their injuries were serious and, after being transported to Decatur County Memorial Hospital, the Bosses were sent via helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. They were still in serious condition as of Monday afternoon.

McCullough noted the scene was hectic and a lot of people pulled together to save lives and quell the flames of the vehicle while keeping all responders safe. Fire departments from Greensburg, Hartsville and Burney converged to snuff the blaze and check vitals along with Decatur County EMS. The Indiana State Police assisted with traffic as well as a few wives of the volunteer firefighters who stepped onto State Road 46 to shut down the lanes of oncoming traffic.

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