Trucker shares terrifying ordeal of getting hit by boulder in Trans-Canada rock slide

A truck driver caught in a rock slide on Highway 1 near Spences Bridge, B.C., last week says getting hit by a boulder felt "like hitting a small mountain."

On January 18, truck driver Matt Ruscheinski was travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway at about 80 km/h when he saw rocks the size of beach balls rolling off the hillside.

"Just as I came up to where they were — in the blink of an eye — all these giant boulders, everything just let loose," said Ruscheinski.

In a matter of seconds, he says a boulder "a little bit bigger than my truck" came tearing down the hill, hitting his semi truck. 

"I don't even know if I got my foot to the brake pedal before the impact," he said.

"The next thing I know, I looked around and checked to make sure my limbs were all intact. I could see smoke and steam … I wasn't sure if the truck was going to catch fire."

Ruscheinski, a driver with 20 years experience, quickly grabbed his things and got out of the vehicle.

"It took awhile for everything to sink in. It took a long time for the adrenaline to wear off."

"It was baffling afterwards to think how fast all that stuff dropped."

No serious injuries

Ruscheinski suffered only bruises from the crash, though the vehicle itself is a writeoff.

Ruscheinski — who hauls modular buildings — had spent more than two months building the custom truck. He said he finished it only two days before the rock slide.

"It bent the frame, the whole cab is smashed in, the hood is destroyed," he said.

"A big boulder went up underneath and smashed the transmission."

"All the time and blood and sweat that went into [building] it and it was done that fast."

While he says it is disappointing to see the damage to the truck, he and his family are grateful his injuries were not worse.

"Everyone met me at the hospital. They were all just happy I was alive," he said.

Ruscheinski is now back home recovering in Langley, B.C.

The rock slide that destroyed his truck closed Highway 1, but has since been cleared.

With files from CBC's Radio West and Sarah Penton.