By Frank Anthony Forza

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

When a Greyhound bus crashed into a Clark County rescue unit early Saturday morning, paramedic Colby Rupert was banged up, but he did not dwell on his injuries.

Instead, the 31-year-old paramedic instinctively grabbed a 25-pound extraction tool, limped to the front of the bus and spent the next three minutes feverishly trying to cut through metal to free the bus driver from a precarious position.

“I just went over there and did it,” Rupert said Wednesday, recalling his actions about 3 a.m. on Interstate 15 north of Primm.

Back-up paramedic units arrived to the accident scene and asked Rupert to step aside.

“He had to be literally forced to stop assisting others so he could receive medical attention,” Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

Rupert, a colleague and an ambulance crew had initially responded to a pickup truck that had run off the road. To protect the truck, Rupert’s unit parked its rescue vehicle in the right lane of the highway.

Despite the flashing lights, the driver of the Greyhound bus failed to change lanes and hit the rescue unit, virtually destroying the vehicle, officials said.

“Miraculously, no one was killed,” Leinbach said.

Rupert said he emerged with a badly sprained ankle and a sore back.

The driver of the bus was flown to the hospital and was treated and released the same day, Leinbach said.

Fifteen other patients were taken to the hospital, treated and released, Leinbach said.