2-26-19 oshkosh resident involved in i-41 crash says “I thought I was going to die”

Oshkosh resident Sam Sawicky says he thought he and his girlfriend were going to die.  Sawicky was involved in the fatal chain-reaction crash Sunday on Interstate 41 near Neenah.  One person was killed and 71 people were injured in the 131 vehicle pile-up on 41 near Neenah.  In an exclusive interview with WFDL news Sawicky says he was southbound on 41 when he encountered white-out conditions and noticed several vehicles spinning out of control, blocking the Interstate.   Sawicky told WFDL news that’s when he saw a semi truck going much faster than the other vehicles coming up from behind.   “I thought we were going to die,”  Sawicky said.  “I literally thought we weren’t going to be here  today.”   Sawicky says  it was a helpless feeling not being able to drive around the crashed vehicles on the Interstate.  “There was no ditch.  Unfortunately this section of the freeway,  both sides had cement barricades.  There was no where to go.  When I stopped and put my flashers on it was the most helpless I’ve ever felt in my life.”   The semi plowed into the back of  Sawicky’s pickup truck.  He lost consciousness and had to be extricated from the vehicle.   Sawicky says a few miles before the crash the road conditions were not that bad.   “Two miles north, behind us, the roads were actually decent,”  Sawicky told WFDL news.  “People, I think,  really underestimated  the power of the wind and drifts.”  Sawicky says the 50 mile an hour winds picked up the snow and made it seem like a blizzard.  Sawicky and his girlfriend, Amanda Burg were transported to the hospital where they were treated for mostly minor bumps and bruises.  Sawicky says he is very sore but otherwise okay.  He says his thoughts and prayers are with the families of the all of the victims.  He says he feels fortunate to be alive.