Basketball Players Rescue 2 Drivers From Nebraska Sinkhole

When the road suddenly collapsed beneath two vehicles at an Omaha intersection Tuesday, University of Nebraska Omaha basketball players Esra Kurban and Olivia Borsutzki were waiting at a red light nearby. In seconds, they made a choice that would save lives.

A red SUV and gray pickup truck dropped instantly into the ground as the pavement gave way beneath them. The pickup driver managed to open his door, but the SUV driver remained trapped inside the growing hole.

"I thought it was an accident, and then I saw a man next to the car and was like, 'Oh, the cars are actually in the ground,'" Borsutzki told reporters. She pulled her purple car onto the sidewalk without thinking twice.

Around them, other drivers slowed down to record the scene on their phones. No one else stopped to help. "Nobody was helping. People had their cell phones out, driving past, they didn't do anything," Borsutzki said.

She turned to her teammate. "I was like, 'Esra, we gotta do something. I don't know what we're doing, but we gotta do something.'"

Both players rushed to the SUV, where the driver was panicking inside. Borsutzki reached down and grabbed him by his belt, pulling him up and out of the sinkhole to safety. Dust continued rising from the collapsed pavement as both drivers made it to solid ground.

"I didn't even know a road could go down. I was shocked to see it," Kurban said. "But fortunately, everything turned out to be fine after that."

Police confirmed neither driver suffered injuries. Officer Sarah Martier praised the quick response: "We are grateful to them for jumping into action and quickly providing help."

Why This Inspires

Kurban and Borsutzki didn't wait for someone else to be the hero. They didn't overthink or worry about what might go wrong. They saw people in danger and moved immediately, showing the same teamwork and split-second decision making they use on the court.

Their instinct to help rather than record reminds us that we all have the power to act when others need us most. In a world where it's easy to stay at a distance, these athletes chose to get close.

The next day, the Lady Mavericks achieved their own historic win on the court, but their biggest victory had already happened at that intersection where two strangers got to go home safe.