73-year-old Ken McInnes is tough.
It’s not just because he hauls and chops wood and still works on the family farm.
McInnes walked away from a crash that sent him off a bridge and into icy water in rural Manitoba.
It happened Friday morning in the RM of Dufferin on Road 18W north of Highway 3, about a 20 minute drive from his home in St. Claude.
McInnes was delivering a trailer when he said he hit a patch of ice approaching the crossing. He along with the trailer and his truck plunged into the frozen waterway below.
"I couldn't believe it,” McInnes said. “This is going really bad."
Moments later, the truck’s cabin filled up with water and the door seemed stuck. McInnes tried hitting the window a dozen times with a knife to no avail.
"The water was pretty well up to my nose. I knew then the door better open the next try,” he said.
The door opened, but climbing out his boot got stuck in the car door. Eventually he broke free.
After swimming through the icy water, McInnes said a man driving by the bridge stopped, helped him up the bank and called 911.
McInnes admits he survived the crash with a bit of luck. He said he doesn't have a scratch to show from the experience and only spent a few hours in hospital.
He doesn’t call surviving the crash a miracle.
“No. I expected to get out,” he said.
McInnes said part of the reason he's survived so many close calls is because of his confidence and never giving up.
McInnes said the only thing that would have made a difference was if he'd had a special piece of equipment designed for breaking windows.
Supplied photo
