Coming down from a high.(The Goodness Of America)

Shortly before 11 a.m. on April 15, Kaysville, Utah, resident Wayne Olsen left for a work assignment in nearby Farmington. Driving south on a surface road paralleling the I-15 freeway, Olsen glanced to his left and was stunned to see a red pickup truck flying through the air.

The truck's driver, Cory Haws, had been traveling north in the fast lane of the freeway when he lost consciousness. Swerving left, the vehicle caromed off the concrete wall dividing the north and south freeway lanes, careened across the three northbound lanes, and crashed through a chain-link fence. It then climbed an embankment surrounding a pond at the Utah State University Botanical Center, became airborne, and landed in the pond some 75 feet from where it left the ground.

Olsen recalls that his initial reaction was disbelief. "It just wasn't natural," he told the May 3 Deseret Morning News. "I'm thinking, 'This isn't happening.'" Reality set in, however, when the truck splashed into the water. As summarized by the Morning News, "Wayne reached for his cell phone and punched 911 ," but nothing happened. A second attempt also failed. (He was unaware that his cell phone service includes a feature that prompts 911 operators to call the number back.)

Pulling to the side of the road, Olsen jumped from his vehicle, placed the cell phone and his wallet on the ground, and ran to the pond. Diving in fully clothed, he swam to the track, ...