It was 11 hours after a truck crashed into the front of Eugene’s Flower Home that members of the work crew found him, buried under piles of debris. Kurt barely moved as he was carried into the back room. The employees of the store thought they had already lost him.
But as soon as he hit the water, the brave goldfish wiggled wildly, bursting with life and the great trauma of being launched across the store by the force of the crash. The employees rejoiced, keeping a watchful eye on him throughout the day as the cleanup of the rest of the store began.
Kurt Russell, the goldfish, was in a fishtank that got hit and thrown by a truck that smashed through the front of Eugene’s Flower Home. Kurt’s tank then crashed to the ground and he ended up surviving in debris for 11 hours before being found alive and rescued. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
“His name is Kurt Russell,” store employee Cindy Mosley said. “That’s why he’s so tough.”
At 2:30 a.m., store owner Pat Brooks got a call from the Eugene Police Department, saying there had been an accident. Upon arrival at the store, she saw a white pickup sitting about two-thirds of the way into her store.
18-year-old Aaron G. Blanton had stolen the vehicle earlier in the evening, leading the police on a chase that went from 7th Avenue down Monroe and then onto 13th Avenue, where he hit a parked car. It was during the turn that the truck ended up through the front of the store. Blanton and an unnamed, uncited passenger were both taken from the scene by police without injury.
Blanton has been charged with unlawful use of a vehicle, eluding by vehicle, three counts of criminal mischief, reckless driving, reckless endangering, hit and run, possession of methamphetamine, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, operating a vehicle without privileges, unlawful turn and failure to obey a traffic control device.
As of right now, crews are still working to clean up the store, although Eugene’s Flower Home will remain open.
The truck did not hit the most expensive part of the store, the refrigerator case that held a number of arrangements. However, the flower displays that were set up in front, as well as the fish tank which held Kurt, were damaged and had to be mostly thrown out. There was severe structural damage to the front, where whole windows and the supporting posts were taken out.
“We hope that within a week we will have it mostly cleaned up,” Brooks said. “But we don’t know how long it will take to completely repair the damage.”
Until then, they will remain open and operate through construction.
“With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s important that we stay open through all of this,” Brooks said. “We would just like to remind people to use the back door.”
