It was just another ordinary Tuesday for Olivia Borsutzki.
As an University of Nebraska-Omaha women’s basketball player, most of her days looked the same. She woke up, went to class, then headed to the Mavericks’ facility to start a physical therapy session for her injury.
Later that afternoon, she went to practice, then hopped in her purple car with teammate Esra Kurban to head to the cafeteria.
That’s when she saw what appeared to be an accident between a truck and SUV while waiting at a red light. There were trees blocking her view, so she couldn’t see much. Only, it wasn’t an accident.
After moving closer and noticing one man sitting on the ground, she realized what was actually happening. The cars had fallen into a sinkhole in what became a viral incident.
Borsutzki, a junior from Germany, and Kurban, a freshman from Turkey, rushed over to help.
After they left, videos began circling on social media connecting the two to the act of kindness. They both received numerous messages praising them for their actions.
“(Omaha head coach Jamie Carey) is telling us to be helpful for the community, be more than an athlete, be there for people if they need it,” Borsutzki told The Post on Friday. “That’s what we do. I wouldn’t even say that’s something crazy we did, because that’s normal.”
When Borsutzki ran over to the sinkhole, she said she wasn’t thinking. In Germany, she’d never even seen a pothole, let alone a sinkhole. Because German highways are fast, she’d also witnessed numerous accidents before. But this was different.
Her adrenaline took over. She waited a few seconds, but nobody else was helping. Borsutzki turned to Kurban in the passenger’s seat and told her they needed to do something.
Kurban agreed. So, Borsutzki pulled her car out of harm’s way onto an adjacent sidewalk, got out and jogged over.
When she got to the hole, it was bigger than she thought — city officials later said that it was 30-50 feet wide and 10-15 feet deep.
She initially tried to assist one man, who was struggling to get out of the SUV. After calling another bystander over to help, they hauled him to safety.
Borsutzki said she was surprised by the amount of people watching, taking videos and even laughing. Many didn’t even stop and kept driving. She was appalled that as the fourth car stopped at the light, she and Kurban were the first to help.
“I feel like every human being should do that,” Borsutzki said. “That’s why I think it’s crazy that it’s all over the news, because a sinkhole is not normal, but helping out people should be normal.”
While Borsutzki was aiding those involved, Kurban lingered behind. Borsutzki said that she might’ve been in shock when she saw the hole and made the “safer decision.”
They offered to call 911 and stay with those involved but left after police arrived five minutes later.
Borsutzki has been a mentor for Kurban ever since they arrived in Nebraska. Tuesday’s situation was no different. As international students, they both live in the same apartment and have been spending more time together in recent months.
Kurban has logged 95 total minutes this season, while Borsutzki, an Xavier transfer, has yet to play due to her injury. While Kurban’s coped with the limited playing time, Borsutzki has constantly emphasized to her to “stick with it” and that there’s “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Though both players were relatively unknown prior to Tuesday’s events, they’ve been the talk of the town since.
After leaving the scene, Borsutzki texted the team group chat. Next were her parents, but they were asleep in Germany. Borsutzki joked that there are only two purple cars in Omaha, so her coaches immediately recognized her vehicle in the security footage posted on social media and reached out. Some of her friends back home even sent her the video unsolicited.
Everyone thought she was crazy. Her parents just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“At first, they were scared for me because something could have happened, but I wasn’t really thinking about that in that moment,” Borsutzki said.
Originally, Borsutzki and Kurban weren’t identified online. But when their names became public knowledge, it started blowing up on social media.
Posts accumulated millions of views. They ended up on “SportsCenter.” Borsutzki also noticed comments like, “There’s still good humans here,” on some posts.
Even on campus, random students have come up to her and Kurban to praise them. Borsutzki said she’s brushed off the attention. She wants her actions to set a standard going forward.
“I was just thinking, if I would be in that situation, I want someone to run up to me and try to get me out,” Borsutzki said.
Since then, Borsutzki has turned her attention back to basketball. She and Kurban went right back to their normal lives after driving away.
The next day, she cheered on her teammates as Omaha defeated Oral Roberts for its fifth win of the year.
Despite her heroic actions, she wants to receive “hype” for her play on the court, not things that she believes should be commonplace.