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Music Execs Tend To Victims At Crash Scene
A motorcycle group composed of Music Row power hitters may have very well saved the lives of up to 10 people after a fiery crash near I-57 in Southern Illinois Aug. 4.
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Brothers Marc Oswald and Greg Oswald (music manager and co-head of WME Nashville, respectively) and APA’s Frank Wing take a well-deserved shot for the scrapbook after rescuing 10 people from a car crash in Illinois Aug. 4.
Frank Wing, vice president of
“There are eight vehicles behind us,” Wing told Pollstar. “I’m sitting there looking through my rearview mirror because I have a habit of doing that. Next thing you know – I can’t get that sound out of my head – an 18-wheeler plows into the cars at 70 miles an hour. I don’t know if he was texting, or on his phone or feel asleep or what.”
By all accounts, the scene was as terrifying as anything out of a movie, with one car flying straight up in the air, people screaming while trapped in their vehicles, billows of black smoke and even the sound of gunfire from one flaming car containing a box of ammo.
Their group was literally next in line to get hit by the truck if it wasn’t for the eight cars behind them.
“Marc said it best: helping those people saved our lives. Imagine if it was reversed,” Wing said.
Before their days as music execs, Marc and Greg spent 10 years in San Diego as paramedics, and Wing has 10 years military experience – they were some of the most qualified responders at the scene.
The music execs first removed a family of six, with children ages 6 to 11, from their vehicle. Wing said they were not badly injured but it was automatic to look for kids first. Greg contacted 911 and gave them a mile marker, then began organizing bystanders.
Then they removed two men from a pickup truck, one with a bad head wound.
“I always carry a bandanna. This one guy had several head injuries so I applied it to the biggest one. We were setting up triage right on the spot.
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“Less than five minutes later, you could just see the smoke starting.”
Next to be rescued was a woman screaming in a car, but the car could not be opened.
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“The first vehicle that was hit it was just crushed. Miraculously, the driver got himself out but the lady was trapped in there. Flames erupt – bikes, rig, everything is just going up. It was so freaking hot. We were thinking it was going to blow up.”
To rescue her, the execs organized 10 bystanders to drag the car three feet at a time across the highway into a median to get it away from the fires.
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“I don’t know, even with all those people, how we dragged the wreckage.”
The rescuers helped the victim with blankets and pillows, placing it behind the woman’s head.
“Here’s another thing: there were these little, small explosions. They were clearly audible but we weren’t paying attention to them. But here I am with 10 years of military training thinking, ‘Those sound like rounds cooking off.’ Turns out this one guy had a .45 in his car and an extra clip.”
Emergency vehicles arrived within 10 minutes; the firetrucks 10 minutes later. There were no fatalities although the one man was treated for his head wound and the woman was life-flighted out.
“You hear stories about running toward danger,” Wing said. “But that’s why I am so proud of this group we had. Something kicks in. [Marc and Greg] were cool under pressure, cool under fire, literally. They gave great instructions to all of us that were helping. Unbelievable.”
The group remained on the scene for about an hour. They had left Nashville on their way to Kansas City where, that evening, the event finally hit them, Wing said. They eventually reached the