Ephrata man's life saved by Jess Ford employees

A man who was unconscious in his burning car gets to continue to live with his family thanks to local heroism.

Three Jess Ford employees saved the Ephrata man's life in December.

Joshua Bessette, 46, of Ephrata, was on his way to work at the Grand Coulee Dam on Dec. 3 at about 7 a.m.

He was driving north on SR-155 at about milepost eight between Coulee City and Grand Coulee near the Million Dollar Mile, when, according to a report from Washington State Patrol Trooper John Bryant, he left the road to the right for an unknown reason and struck a rock bank.

His 2008 Honda CR-V rolled until it ended upside down and caught fire.

Aaron Murray, Will Murray, and Josh Pitts were carpooling to work at Jess Ford in Grand Coulee when they came across the car and stopped to give aid sometime between 7 and 7:15 a.m.

They got Bessette out of the car with not much time to spare.

Bessette's father-in-law, Gerald M. Oakes, of Goodyear, Arizona, described the situation in a letter to give the men recognition which was addressed to Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley of the Ford Motor Company World Headquarters.

"The car was in flames, but these three men risked their lives to pull Joshua Bessette from his car," the letter reads. "Two of the men opened the driver and passenger doors to release the seat belt. The flames were so hot the third man helped move Josh to safety and used his sweatshirt to put out the fire on Josh's legs. Just think about the thought process these men went through deciding to help Josh. It is truly amazing their selfless act of heroism!"

"The air bags protected the core of Josh's body," the letter describes, "but being [six foot five inches tall] his head went over the top of the airbags and hit something solid numerous times which caused multiple facial, cranial, and spinal fractures. The fire caused burns over 30% of his body. He was taken to Coulee Medical Center and flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA. He still has no memory of the accident. He was hospitalized for five weeks at Harborview Medical Center.

"Josh has at least a year of therapy and several surgeries ahead of him," the letter says. "We wouldn't even be talking about this if Aaron, Will, and Josh hadn't risked their lives to save Josh Bessette, a total stranger. Joshua is now home recovering with his wife Jamie, daughter Mallory, 14, and son Cooper, 12. Your three employees made this possible. Please give them the recognition they deserve."

Oakes' letter was also sent to Executive Director Rachelle Haven of the Grand Coulee Area Chamber of Commerce in order to help give the men recognition, and asked her to share the letter with the mayor.

Haven forwarded the email to The Star.

Will Murray said that he, his brother Aaron, and Pitts carpool together.

When they came to the scene near the Million Dollar Mile past the rock cut, it took them a moment to realize that what they saw on fire was a vehicle.

He said there was debris in the road including a tire, front axle, and bumper pieces.

"We didn't think of it being dangerous until after the fact," he said about approaching the burning vehicle.

Pitts said that the car, a portion of it aflame when they arrived, was completely engulfed just a few minutes later. Had any of them hit the snooze button on their alarm clocks, they would have arrived too late to help Bessette.

After the trio of heroes helped Bessette out of the vehicle they drug him away from it about 40 feet.

The vehicle then became completely engulfed in flame.

Pitts wrapped his Almira-Coulee-Hartline football hoodie around Bessette's leg to put flames out. 

"In the moment," Will Murray said, "none of us thought we were heroes, but later seeing Joshua Bessette's kids, we thought, 'That's crazy.' We were arguably two minutes away from that going in the other direction. I don't know that any of us thought of us as heroes, but we are all proud of the way it turned out."

"They flat out saved my life," Bessette said. "There's no doubt about it. Their selflessness brought me back to my family. ... I can only say thank you so much. It doesn't do their actions any justice."

Bessette said that there is a fog in his memory for about a month following the accident.

"It's amazing that I'm in this good of shape this far removed from the accident," he said. "There was a huge team of people at Harborview that accelerated my recovery. Everybody, their thoughts and prayers, that helped my family. It helped me heal faster."

"It altered my entire perception of humanity," Bessette continued about the experience, noting  "the goodness of the world and how willing people are to give outside of themselves." He said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, as well as the community in Ephrata, has been very kind toward him and his family throughout the ordeal.

Bessette goes to therapy about twice a week, including physical, speech, and occupational therapies.

He said the skin on his left leg is still coming back after suffering burns. In three weeks, he should be able to shed his back brace, which is helping him recover from compression fractures in his back.

Bessette is also practicing brain exercises to help recover from damage suffered from the accident. After recovering further, he can undergo surgeries to help repair damage to facial injuries.

Bessette hopes to meet his heroes sometime in the future.

His wife Jamie said that she spoke to Aaron Murray about the incident, and how he pulled Bessette from the car.

"I am eternally grateful to him; because of the decision he made, in a stressful situation, I have my husband sitting next to me right now," she said. "[Josh Bessette will] have a full life ahead of him, and that's due to the decisions of Aaron, Will and Josh. These three men did an act of heroism most people wouldn't do, and it's because of them that we have a life together instead of me being a widow."

The Bessettes also thanked the community in Ephrata for helping them through their time of need, financially, as well as helping take their children places, and giving them meals.