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American Morning
Family Tells Story of Survival in Mount St. Helens Area
Aired January 21, 2003 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It certainly is one weekend the Buzzini family will not ever forget. It began as a search for some snow, some good snow, in the Mount St. Helens area of Washington State, but it soon turned into a search and rescue when the family of four, and their two children, ages 1 and 4, failed to return home on Saturday night.
After two freezing nights missing in the mountains, the family was found on Monday morning. They were safe and sound, and there were hugs and kisses all around, and for good reason.
The family, most of them anyway, join us this morning from their home in Vancouver, Washington, Billy Buzzini and his wife, Sarah, and their 1-year-old daughter, Madison. The 4-year-old is not with them. I take it she's sleeping this morning.
And good morning to you. Thanks for getting up early for us today.
Billy, take us back to Saturday night, when you're at Mount St. Helens, you come back to your car, you find your car is stuck, the daylight starts waning, your thoughts are what?
BILLY BUZZINI, FATHER: I knew we weren't getting out that night once it was dark and there was nothing I could do. So, we just climbed in the car and turned it on every half an hour or so, let it warm up. And we had the blankets and food that night, so we were all right that night.
HEMMER: The first night was OK...
B. BUZZINI: I thought we were going to get out the next day.
HEMMER: Sorry about the interruption there. What about cell phone service? Did you ever try that, Billy?
B. BUZZINI: We tried every 15 minutes or so, and there was no service at all.
HEMMER: So, Sarah, the next morning, you wake up, you get through the night, if you even slept for that matter, and you actually decide to get out and start walking. Where were you headed? What direction did you go?
SARAH BUZZINI, MOTHER: We had planned to go back toward Cougar, where we thought that there was going to be people. But we just knew that we needed to start walking and get toward, you know, where there was going to be people, because where we were, we hadn't seen another car or anything, I mean, all night. So...
HEMMER: Yes, Madison is probably a little too young to understand what was happening then. What about the 4-year-old? What did you tell Kaleigh?
S. BUZZINI: It was just an adventure. We were going camping and we were going to sleep outside in the woods, and we did everything we could not to, you know, make her scared.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm sure. An adventure might be a bit of an understatement.
The second night, Billy, you sleep near a tree. What happened then?
B. BUZZINI: We froze. We walked all that day trying to find somebody, and it started getting dark, so we decided we'd have to sleep there that night instead of finding somewhere else to sleep.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: You say you froze. How cold was it, Billy?
B. BUZZINI: I don't know exactly, but I've heard 20s, I've heard lower 30s, so it was cold.
HEMMER: Were you thinking the worst could happen?
B. BUZZINI: No, we were on the main road almost the whole time, so we were pretty sure somebody would come along eventually.
HEMMER: Wow! Indeed they did. Tell us about the rescue quickly. How did you get out?
B. BUZZINI: The plane was circling us after two hours of walking on Monday morning, and he waved us towards the search-and-rescue unit.
HEMMER: Well, listen, thanks for sharing your story today, and it's great to see you all safe and sound and healthy and alive there. Sarah, Billy, Madison, and thank your other daughter, too, who is getting a well-deserved rest. I understand you guys are pretty exhausted after that experience.
The Buzzini family alive and well in Vancouver, Washington State.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 21, 2003 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It certainly is one weekend the Buzzini family will not ever forget. It began as a search for some snow, some good snow, in the Mount St. Helens area of Washington State, but it soon turned into a search and rescue when the family of four, and their two children, ages 1 and 4, failed to return home on Saturday night.
After two freezing nights missing in the mountains, the family was found on Monday morning. They were safe and sound, and there were hugs and kisses all around, and for good reason.
The family, most of them anyway, join us this morning from their home in Vancouver, Washington, Billy Buzzini and his wife, Sarah, and their 1-year-old daughter, Madison. The 4-year-old is not with them. I take it she's sleeping this morning.
And good morning to you. Thanks for getting up early for us today.
Billy, take us back to Saturday night, when you're at Mount St. Helens, you come back to your car, you find your car is stuck, the daylight starts waning, your thoughts are what?
BILLY BUZZINI, FATHER: I knew we weren't getting out that night once it was dark and there was nothing I could do. So, we just climbed in the car and turned it on every half an hour or so, let it warm up. And we had the blankets and food that night, so we were all right that night.
HEMMER: The first night was OK...
B. BUZZINI: I thought we were going to get out the next day.
HEMMER: Sorry about the interruption there. What about cell phone service? Did you ever try that, Billy?
B. BUZZINI: We tried every 15 minutes or so, and there was no service at all.
HEMMER: So, Sarah, the next morning, you wake up, you get through the night, if you even slept for that matter, and you actually decide to get out and start walking. Where were you headed? What direction did you go?
SARAH BUZZINI, MOTHER: We had planned to go back toward Cougar, where we thought that there was going to be people. But we just knew that we needed to start walking and get toward, you know, where there was going to be people, because where we were, we hadn't seen another car or anything, I mean, all night. So...
HEMMER: Yes, Madison is probably a little too young to understand what was happening then. What about the 4-year-old? What did you tell Kaleigh?
S. BUZZINI: It was just an adventure. We were going camping and we were going to sleep outside in the woods, and we did everything we could not to, you know, make her scared.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm sure. An adventure might be a bit of an understatement.
The second night, Billy, you sleep near a tree. What happened then?
B. BUZZINI: We froze. We walked all that day trying to find somebody, and it started getting dark, so we decided we'd have to sleep there that night instead of finding somewhere else to sleep.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: You say you froze. How cold was it, Billy?
B. BUZZINI: I don't know exactly, but I've heard 20s, I've heard lower 30s, so it was cold.
HEMMER: Were you thinking the worst could happen?
B. BUZZINI: No, we were on the main road almost the whole time, so we were pretty sure somebody would come along eventually.
HEMMER: Wow! Indeed they did. Tell us about the rescue quickly. How did you get out?
B. BUZZINI: The plane was circling us after two hours of walking on Monday morning, and he waved us towards the search-and-rescue unit.
HEMMER: Well, listen, thanks for sharing your story today, and it's great to see you all safe and sound and healthy and alive there. Sarah, Billy, Madison, and thank your other daughter, too, who is getting a well-deserved rest. I understand you guys are pretty exhausted after that experience.
The Buzzini family alive and well in Vancouver, Washington State.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
