‘God was with me’: Turlock man survives tree falling on his car during windstorm
While Bruce Wedin lay down trying to sleep in the back of his Volvo during a windstorm late Wednesday night at Turlock’s Broadway Park, he heard a crack.
Then an oak tree fell on his car, denting the roof and trapping the 66-year-old Turlock resident inside. It was about midnight.
The tree pinned him in an awkward position, Wedin said Thursday morning, but he did not feel a lot of pain. Using a hydraulic extrication tool, firefighters rescued him about an hour later, he said.
“God was with me,” Wedin said. “I even went to church on Sunday.”
Wedin declined a ride to the hospital overnight because he wanted to find out what was going to happen the next day. So he stayed at the park overnight, said Liz Padilla, founder of Helping Hands Ministry.
In the morning, Turlock Gospel Mission Assistant Director Robert Smithcamp updated him on the nonprofit’s efforts to find him housing the past few weeks.
Smithcamp delivered good news: They were expecting a call about a housing opportunity in Modesto and the mission planned to get Wedin a hotel for the night if needed.
Smithcamp also told Wedin to get ready to take his belongings out of the car because he planned to bring a pickup truck.
Part of the tree also fell on the front of a GMC parked behind him, cracking the windshield and damaging the roof, Wedin said. A man and woman were inside it at the time, Padilla said.
Neither Wedin nor the other car’s owner could afford car insurance policies that would have covered the damage, Padilla said. She added that the city plans to send them forms to file a claim. But she criticized the city for not offering a place for them to stay, such as covering a motel, and only mentioning shelters as an option.
“Let’s have some compassion,” Padilla said. “They were not even bothering anybody. Sleeping in their cars, that’s what they do.”
Wedin also said he hopes the city alleviates the financial burden caused by the Turlock park tree falling on his 2005 model car.
“The city has gotta be responsible for the damage,” Wedin said. “I’m getting housing, but I need a vehicle. That car was practically brand new.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
