Webster, N.Y. — On Thursday, clean up crews spent a majority of the day cleaning up thousands of pounds of glass at a home off Kircher Road in Webster.
Overnight, a tractor trailer carrying thousands of mason jars tipped over into Tom Welsher’s backyard.
“I still can't believe it didn't hit my house,” Welsher said. “If you heard the impact, it sounded like it hit my house.”
According to the Webster Fire Department, the truck driver was driving on the access road near Rt. 104 and 250 when he fell asleep at the wheel.
“The driver couldn't get out of the truck,” Welsher explained. “He couldn’t get out because the windshield was smashed, so he was standing in the bottom and he couldn't open the door. The kid is lucky to be alive.”
Welsher says his son helped the driver out of the truck.
Then Welsher noticed that the truck had fallen just a few inches from a statue of an angel in his backyard. His girlfriend placed the angel there a few years ago.
In this way, he says Thursday’s truck accident was very similar to an accident two years ago, when the driver of a car also crashed into his backyard and also narrowly missed the angel statue.
The driver in that accident was also uninjured.
“The first time it happened, I thought it was strange,” Welsher said. “But this time it really hit me. Especially when it happened two times, you would think [the statue] would get hit. The angel never got run over. It’s six inches from where that truck is sitting.”
Welsher admits he’s not a religious man, but says he likes to think the angel was watching over his house and the drivers involved in the accident.
Welsher says the truck driver was very remorseful and Welsher hopes the driver doesn’t lose his job over the accident.
“[The driver] was busting his you know what and things happen. The kid is 27-years-old and kid’s working, trying to make something of himself and provide for his family. For him to lose his job... I don’t think it’s right.”
With a car and truck crashing into your yard in a two-year span, most homeowners may be considering moving out, but not Welsher.
“I'm not moving,” he said with a chuckle. “I just put $40,000 into [building] that upstairs bedroom. I'm not going anywhere.”
Plus, with his guardian angel in his backyard, he says he feels pretty lucky and safe.
