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Crash Victims Surprised They Made It Out Of Head-On Crash Alive

ROSEVILLE (CBS13) - A head-on collision on Highway 49 left eight people seriously injured. It happened just after 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. One of the passengers talked to CBS 13 and said she's grateful to be alive.

"I can't believe that we survived!" said Anna Horton, who was a passenger in the converted school bus.

She and her band mate Joel Ludford were on their way to San Luis Obispo. Handmade Moments, their musical duo, had a show to play on Monday.

"We're like 'We're going to San Luis Obispo!'" she recalled. "Me and Hannah in the back of the bus."

Their friends Hannah and Timo were along for the ride. The group had spent the night in Nevada City and hit the road in the bus Saturday afternoon. Horton explains that they were just 10 minutes into the drive when a truck and SUV collided into each other and hit their bus head on.

"The next thing I remember, I was laying in the bus and Hannah was next to me and we were all covered in blood," she described.

She looked over and saw Joel's tendons exposed. He was in the driver's seat and Hannah was sitting behind him on the same side. The driver's side of the bus was almost completely destroyed.

"Smashed the whole front end," Horton said. "Where [Joel's] legs would be- I don't know how!"

Anna started the trip sitting right next to Hannah. But moved to the passenger's side about a minute before the crash to take a picture for Instagram.

"And, like, all of a sudden I look up and Joel is like 'Oh, no!' and he swerves," she said.

Joel and Hannah were airlifted to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and remain in the intensive care unit. Timo suffered a broken shoulder and Anna a mild concussion. Several shards of glass were lodged into her back.

"Looking at the van now I'm like 'whoa!'" she said.

Originally from Arkansas, she and Joel started playing together in college at the University of Central Arkansas. It took them about a year to convert an old school bus into their tour bus. The solar panels on top, which are the only things salvageable on the bus, made it possible for them to play gigs on top of the bus.

"All of our instruments were smashed," she said.

But Anna can't help but think that things could have much worse.

'At the end of the day, who cares," Horton said. "Joel's alive, Hannah's alive,Timo's alive, I'm alive. If one of us didn't make it, I don't know."

Joel's family rushed to Roseville to be with their son. He's alert but his mother said his recovery is going to take at least a few weeks.

Anna's family has set up a GoFundMe account for the four friends to cover their medical costs and expenses during their recovery.

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