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Giant Boulder Crushed Man’s Car Minutes After He Stepped Out of the Car to Take Girlfriend’s Call | “Goosebumps”
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Giant Boulder Crushed Man’s Car Minutes After He Stepped Out of the Car to Take Girlfriend’s Call | “Goosebumps”

"I said thank you for calling me because you saved my life," he said to his girlfriend, whose call made him get out of the car.

Cover Image Source: YouTube | ABC 7

When fate is on our side, we can even evade death. A California man, Mauricio Henao was in the driver's seat when he received a call from his girlfriend on January 10, according to KCAL-TV, which led him to get out of the vehicle. "She said 'Hey, check the bag I left in the house'," Henao recalled. "I went inside and that's when the noise started coming from the front of the house," he added.

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As per New York Post, his near-death experience took place in the 20000 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, where Mauricio Henao had parked his Toyota Prius across from his house. He left the car to take the call and then heard the sounds of massive rocks tumbling down the hillside, reported CNN.



 

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In no time, Henao's vehicle was crushed by a four-foot boulder. "The rock is the size of the whole hood," he told the CW station KTLA. "The windshields are all broken and the frame of the car is just all twisted," he said describing the aftermath. "I felt goosebumps because if wasn't for that call," Henao told KCAL, "I probably wouldn't be here or somebody else could have died." Debris from the hillside fell over four lanes of traffic, according to KTLA. While no one was injured, several other cars were also damaged by rocks falling down the hillside.



 

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Henao is taken aback by the incident and he said, “I’m pretty shook up,” he said, according to KTLA. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ll park here again after this. I’m a little traumatized by this whole ordeal,” he added. Meanwhile, resident Nick Kennedy, who lived nearby, told the station, "I'm kind of glad my car was there," adding, "I don't know if [the rocks] would have gone through the wall of the house and nailed me because my desk is right on the other side of that wall."



 

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Henao is also deeply grateful to his girlfriend.  "I said thank you for calling me because you saved my life," he recalled saying to his girlfriend, per KCAL. He further joked, "If I'm this lucky, I should probably play the lotto right now." Henao also compared his brush with death to a plotline from the Final Destination horror movie franchise but he was grateful to be safe. 

Getty Images | Douglas Sacha
Getty Images | Douglas Sacha

 

The rockslide was the result of a historic storm that hit California earlier this week. The fatal storm left millions under flood watches, toppled trees, and flooded roadways. However, It is now being predicted that the state is finally getting a break from extreme weather, according to CNN. Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis told CNN that after "four years with very little rain," the state experienced "about a year's worth of rainfall" in just three weeks.

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References:

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/driver-emerges-unscathed-after-boulder-crushes-his-car-in-malibu/?

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/15/us/california-boulder-crushes-car-trnd/index.html

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/man-narrowly-escapes-giant-falling-boulder-in-malibu-as-car-gets-crushed/

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/17/weather/california-flooding-atmospheric-river-tuesday/index.html

https://nypost.com/2023/01/11/giant-boulder-crushes-car-in-california/

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/01/16/governor-newsom-signs-executive-order-to-support-communities-impacted-by-winter-storms-1-16-23/