A man in Eugene, Oregon, dodged a saw blade coming at him as he walked into a liquor store earlier this week.
As Shane Reimche walked into Quicktrips Neighborhood Market on Thursday, a concrete saw blade came loose at a nearby construction site and rolled right onto him, according to surveillance footage obtained by local TV station KEZI 9.
Just seconds after Reimche entered the shop, a large, serrated blade hit the building right next to the door and embedded itself in the wall.
As Reimche walked into the store, he told KEZI 9 he “heard a loud bang and yelling just as a cloud of smoke came out and I saw the guy fall into the ditch.”
“And a 4-foot blade coming at me,” he added, noting that he “managed to hide behind the counter” at the last minute.
The impact of the runaway blade was felt by everyone at Quicktrips, owner Amit Grewal told the outlet.
He added that it got stuck 2 feet into the wall and it took three men to remove it.
“All I heard was metal rolling from the street and I looked at the camera. It was just the wind, and suddenly we heard a loud bang,” the shop owner told KEZI 9, adding that the impact “literally shook the whole shop”.
Image of a saw blade.
Getty
After security footage showing Reimche’s close encounter with the massive blade went viral, his children were quick to make sure their father was okay, he told the news outlet.
“They saw it on Facebook, so they all came to my house and hugged me and cried a lot,” he said, adding, “Obviously it wasn’t my time, but probably [the] the closest I’ve ever experienced. ”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(665x387:667x389)/quicktrip-033124-c41caca3c16e41e09bed123cf2b857e8.jpg)
Quicktrip Neighborhood Market in Eugene, Oregon.
Google Maps
Reimche also said it “took a while” for him to be able to speak again and said he had a hard time sleeping after Thursday’s incident.
“Oh my God, I had tears all night,” said KEZI 9. “It was scary. I was shaking in the store.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
He also told the outlet, “I don’t think I would have survived that thing touching me.”
“I need a beer,” he added. “I’m still shaken. It’s 9 o’clock. I’m not going to work today.”
At the site where the blade escaped, utility company Northwest Natural Gas was repairing a leaking gas valve, a contractor at the site told KEZI 9. The contractor, who witnessed the incident, also said the blade may have come loose due to operator error.
In a statement, the director of communications from Northwest Natural Gas told KEZI 9 the incident “involved a contractor at the NW Natural site.”
“We are reviewing our cooperation with this contractor and have removed the contractor from other work for us for the time being,” the statement said.
Northwest Natural Gas did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education