Paul Suellentrop
After roughly eight hours immersed in the waters of a drainage ditch, Pat Wilson estimated six minutes or so remained. The muddy water filled the cab of his 2022 Toyota Tacoma. He needed to escape.
He flipped off a bridge late that rainy night in May, likely disoriented from a brain tumor doctors would soon discover. His truck landed upside down in the water on a country road west of El Dorado.
Wilson quickly cut himself free of the seat belt with the blade in the Leatherman Multi-Tool he carries. He held his breath and ducked under the water, pushing aside the tattered air bag floating in his way, as he searched the extended cab over the next few hours in search of his tools and an exit.