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Girlfriend's call for ride was lucky for Luke Zauhar
City Editor At a minimum, Luke Zauhar may want to consider buying his girlfriend flowers.
Rawney Thompson, a merchandise coordinator at Target headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, didn't feel like taking the bus home from work Wednesday. And she was in a hurry to get home.
So she called Zauhar, a 1999 Brainerd High School graduate, and asked him to pick her up. He agreed.
Zauhar, a sales manager with Aerotek staffing service company in Arden Hills, wanted to get a little more work done but Thompson was persistent.
So he left work a little early, hopped into his Oldsmobile Bravado SUV and headed into downtown Minneapolis via Interstate 35W. When he neared the University of Minnesota campus he called Thompson and took the Washington exit right after the bridge. The phone call ended about 6:10 p.m.
"I traveled over the bridge 4-5 minutes before it collapsed," Zauhar said.
He said it was a blessing in disguise that Thompson asked for a ride and wanted to leave when she did.
On their way home, Zauhar received a phone call from a co-worker who knew he was traveling home via the I-35W bridge. That's how he learned of the bridge collapse. When they got home they started watching the television news coverage. "I thought, Oh my God,'" Zauhar said. "My stomach dropped to the bottom of my body."
He knows his life was spared by minutes.
"It's amazing how people can get so lucky and others don't have the same fortune," Zauhar said.
Because of jammed cell phone lines, Zauhar wasn't able to get in touch with any other family members or friends until about 8:30 p.m. He had 12 messages to return.
"I never thought there would be breaking news, something of this caliber - something an absolute nightmare - and be in Minnesota. You think West Coast, East Coast. You just don't think it can happen in Minnesota. It's such a tragedy. I really don't know how to react. It's crazy to think that it really happened. For a lot of people, it hasn't sunk in yet."
Thursday morning, Zauhar traveled Highway 100N to Interstate 694 East, a roundabout way to get to Arden Hills that tacked on an additional 20 minutes to his commute.
He said all his co-workers and friends are accounted for and he doesn't know anyone who was injured or hurt on the bridge.
The tragedy of the catastrophe is just starting to sink in, he said. "It's going to be difficult for Minneapolis - Minnesota - to deal with. I never thought it would happen this close to home."
KATHI NAGORSKI may be reached at kathi.nagorski@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5859.
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