HOUSTON — The driver of a big rig who fell off I-45 is sharing his account for the first time.
Investigators say it’s a miracle Baltej Singh, 65, survived after getting hit by a suspected drunk driver.
“I’m happy because I’m alive," he said.
Singh is back home but still recovering.
“I see a coming car, was coming left side, one car go right lane, same lane I was coming, coming in front," Singh said.
It was one week ago today before dawn on Friday morning. He was driving for his family’s trucking business and on his way home.
“My grandpa just turned a little bit there, and the 18-wheeler fell like this,” his grandson, who now knows the whole story, described.
Singh said he saw a driver coming the wrong way on 1-45 and tried to swerve to save her and other drivers. A surveillance video captured his fall, 50 feet from the highway into the parking lot of the Downtown Aquarium.
“The fact that no one died in that is absolutely a miracle," said Sean Teare with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Teare said the suspected drunk driver will be charged once she’s released from the hospital, but only with DWI, a misdemeanor, because Singh lived.
“There should be some type of enhancement when someone gets that intoxicated and decides to drive the wrong way," Teare said.
It's also a miracle the load of barbeque coal the big rig was carrying didn’t catch fire.
“I have pain, everything," Singh said.
After three days in the hospital, Singh said dealing with a fractured lumbar and rib.
“He lost his truck-trailer. He can’t work right now. He’s hurting," said Sukhjit Khara, Singh's son.
Khara said his dad's life is not the same. The crash took away his independence, and the family wants justice for the suspected drunk driver.
“She could have lost her life or killed somebody else. Like he described, he was not the only one on the lane. There was another car with him," Khara said.
The family said they’ve been frustrated because the court case has not moved forward. Prosecutors told KHOU 11 they are waiting on the other driver to be released from the hospital before they can move forward.