Nurses at a family reunion in Terrell respond to deadly I-20 18-wheeler crash, providing urgent aid and comfort in tragedy
Two nurses at a family reunion at an RV park off I-20 in Terrell on Saturday jumped into action when an 18-wheeler driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel, causing a multi-car crash, leaving victims in need of urgent aid.
"I can still smell the smell and I can still see what I saw," said Taressa Flores.
Saturday will forever be a scene that haunts Taressa and Thomas Flores.
"I remember hearing a very loud sound and my son had said there was an accident over there," Thomas Flores said.
"It's like a bomb went off," said Taressa Flores. "Looking at it, you couldn't even tell how many cars were affected because it was that bad."
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 27-year-old Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni was driving his 18-wheeler when he failed to see stalled traffic around 2:40 p.m., striking a Ford F-150 carrying five people.
Four people in the F-150 were pronounced dead at the scene, and the fifth was care-flighted to a hospital in critical condition and died on Monday, Texas DPS said.
The impact pushed Gonzalez-Companioni's semi into two other trucks, causing a jackknife that struck a Jeep Compass, a Ford Mustang, and a Honda, with one person in the Jeep also dying at the scene, authorities said.
Nurse extinguishes 18-wheeler on fire
When the couple arrived on the scene, Gonzalez-Companioni's semi truck was on fire. Thomas Flores jumped into action.
"I end up yelling out for a fire extinguisher to one of the people," said Thomas Flores. "I was able to put out the fire real quick and then got the driver out of that 18-wheeler."
Thomas Flores said Gonzalez-Companioni looked stunned.
Nurses trained to respond instinctively, offering comfort in tragedy
For the Flores family, helping is an instinct. Both Taressa and Thomas Flores are nurses, trained for the most traumatic of situations.
"My background is hospice and end of life," said Taressa Flores. "And then he's a nurse anesthetist, so he sees the worst of the worst. But I don't think we've ever seen anything like this before."
Taressa Flores rushed to aid one of the women who was barely conscious and comforted some victims in their final moments.
"Wish we could have done more for her," Taresssa Flores. "I wish she wasn't stuck the way she was, that she could have gotten out ... I just hope that in her last moments, she remembered that somebody was there."
This is not the first deadly crash the couple has witnessed on I-20. They saw another horrific scene involving a semi in 2021 in the same area.
The couple said they are tormented that they couldn't save anyone, but are thankful they were there to give the victims peace.
"Not a hero, not anything else," said Thomas Flores. "Just people there to help. It doesn't matter who was involved, what it was, doesn't matter. Just there to help."
