Sunday, April 18, 1999
I-71 survivor undergoes spiritual readjustment
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[busch]](/editions/1999/04/09/pickup_200x126.jpg)
Donald Busch Jr. of Blanchester and his pickup were flipped upside down onto the median.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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Donald Busch Jr. sat in the lobby of Ilsco Corp. in Madisonville where he works as a toolmaker, reflecting on how he has changed since a tornado totaled his pickup and spared his life.
“This whole ordeal took me to church now, where I had never been going to church before.”
It's easy to see how the 35-year-old man could find God in a storm that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.
Just a week ago Friday, Mr. Busch was hanging upside down in his red Ford pickup, strapped in by his seat belt.
The tornado that ripped through the Tristate April 9 lifted the Blanchester man's truck, turned it upside down and set it down on a concrete barrier in the Interstate 71 median.
“When I was tumbling around in that truck, it was down and personal with God. I did a lot of talking. I did a lot of praying.
“I believe he helped the way I was set down.”
A few inches one way or the other, and he could have ended up like Charles S. Smith, the Loveland man who died just a few feet away from Mr. Busch when the twister ripped his car from the interstate.
The first few days after the storm, Mr. Busch thought about Mr. Smith. A lot.
“My loss was quite small,” he said. “I'm just out my truck.”
He's still shopping for a new truck. His insurance company has treated him well, he said. And Mr. Busch is grateful for assistance he's gotten from the federal credit union at Bardes Corp., which owns Ilsco.
Mr. Busch said the ordeal has brought his family closer. He gets more hugs from his daughters. And he said he'll never joke again about wishing for death.
“I looked right at it,” he said. “It's just great to be alive.”
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![[busch]](/editions/1999/04/09/pickup_600x378.jpg)