Military veteran rescues ambulance with patient stuck in snow

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - An Air Force veteran used his pickup truck to pull a stuck ambulance out of heavy snow during the weekend winter storm, helping first responders get a patient to the hospital.

“Me being a veteran, I’m very community-driven. I just wanted to be out there and give them a hand because they’re there to help us, and I wanted to help them,” said Brandyn Longhauser.

It all started about 9 p.m. Sunday in Springfield Township.

He went into his house to warm up after shoveling snow in his driveway.

That’s when he said he saw flashing lights on the street behind his house.

“I noticed there was an ambulance in the back that was stuck in the snow,” he recalled.

When he reached the ambulance, paramedics were trying to dig it out. He discovered his neighbor was the patient inside.

“I ran out back with a snow shovel (but) we couldn’t get the ambulance unstuck,” he said.

That’s when his pickup truck came to the rescue.

“I had a light bulb moment. I decided to go grab my little 4-cylinder Toyota Tacoma,” he recalled.

“I hooked up to that 20,000-pound ambulance, and we towed it all the way up to where it was free and clear.”

Springfield Township Fire Chief Randy Miller called Longhauser to thank him for his help.

“They were able to get the unit out, so it was just really nice of him to help out, and we appreciated his help,” Miller said.

Longhauser said he doesn’t know why his neighbor was taken to the hospital or how he is doing.

Helping the first responders, he said, made him feel great, even more so than celebrating his 31st birthday Monday.

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