Strangers-turned-heroes reconnect with man they saved after tornado

They say *** stranger is just *** friend you haven't met yet. And sometimes those friendships form quickly by being in the right place at the right time, like being here in Greenfield on May 21st. Next thing I know it's like my house just blew up. Larry Van Der Plum remembers the exact moment he was caught in an ef four tornado's path. I'm lifting myself up, looking around to see those tree branches and stuff. Larry says he was thrown *** block away from his home. He woke up to find utter destruction, 18 stitches in the head. They said it was *** brain bleed, six broken ribs, one in two places and my right femur bone. The next thing he remembers. These two gentlemen come along and loaded me up the pick up. They were complete strangers. Glad they were there. Very appreciative. He said, I ain't lucky, I'm blessed to be alive. He's blessed to be in *** new home in Greenfield now, ready to welcome some special guests. Nice to meet you and good to see you again. Strangers turned heroes. That was kind of *** crazy meeting. Andrew Sandstrom and Bubba Sorensen didn't know each other that day. We were so lucky that you had your truck. But the Minnesota construction worker and Greenfield muralist share the same story. Within seconds, it was help everywhere of helping *** man. Neither of them knew. I actually didn't know his name and now they get to meet the missing piece of the puzzle. Hello. Hi. Hi, Larry, I'm Andrew. Nice to meet you, sir. Good to see you. Good to see you guys. The two men saw Larry at his worst. The image of you with basically *** hole in your head will stay with me probably forever. I was like, oh man, we're gonna lose this guy and none of us are ETS. They quickly loaded Larry up into the back of Andrew's pickup truck using *** plastic table. Andrew took this photo of the moment we had *** lady. I don't know if it was the nurse or who gave us *** purse that we could put under Larry's head. It was *** bumpy ride to get to the lumber yard, which was the medical triage center at the time. Grab Larry's hand. I put my fingers in his belt loop to just like hold him on the truck. I knew we with Larry bleeding out and I knew we had to just keep moving. Larry was then taken away by an ambulance and that was the last time Andrew and Bubba saw him. I kind of said like *** silent little prayer like, please God let that guy be ok. My family, we knew nothing about Larry's name. We prayed for him, hoped for him. Those prayers were answered. Larry can now thank Andrew and Bubba in person for saving his life. I don't know. I'm just speechless about it, you know, blast that they were there because the contractor who works all over the Midwest wasn't even supposed to be there that day. I was in Michigan and then my boss said head to Creston, Iowa and Creston was all booked up on hotels. So I went to Greenfield then ultimately, Andrew's truck is what, what saved Larry's life. Three months later. No, it's completely different. The three men are returning to the same spot where it all happened. Larry, you were right down here right on the corner. Things look *** lot different. Now, Larry's home is gone kind of where you see them tall weeds down there. That's where my little houses and new homes are being built. Now, you got houses going up everywhere and it's *** wonderful sign. Andrew. Bubba and Larry are no longer strangers but friends. Hey, brothers in arms here and they're in Greenfield. Not by chance, but by choice. Andrew and Bubba each drove several hours for the reunion. Well, gentlemen, it was nice meeting. You think we can get *** picture of, are you ready? 321. It was great meeting you again. I give you my number being in the right place at the right time. May have been *** coincidence on May 21st. It's amazing how everything worked out and everybody come together. But somehow all of the pieces of the puzzle fell right into place. I feel blessed with the opportunity to help somebody. I think the highlight was just how fast the community responded to help each other. Almost as if everything was just meant to be Andrew and myself and Larry's story, it's not unique really. It's the same story that was happening over and over and over just throughout the little town of Greenfield and everyone was meant to be there.