When a massive sinkhole swallowed two cars at 67th and Pacific Street in Omaha on February 24, 2026, most bystanders reached for their phones. University of Nebraska Omaha women’s basketball player Olivia Borsutzki reached for a stranger’s belt.
In an interview with Hurrdat ONE, the UNO Mavericks guard opened up about the moment that’s captured national attention — and what it actually felt like to be standing at the edge of a hole 10 to 15 feet deep with a man inside asking for help.
Coming Home From Practice
Borsutzki was driving home from practice with her teammate Esra Kurban when they stopped at a red light at 67th and Pacific Street. Music was playing. They were talking. Neither of them noticed anything unusual at first.
“I saw that lady leaving the car and I was like — and then I looked to the left,” Borsutzki said. “And then I was like, there’s actually someone in the ground and two cars are in the ground.”
What struck her next wasn’t the sinkhole itself — it was the silence around it.
“Nobody was doing anything,” she said. “Cars driving past with their cell phones out the window.”
That’s when she told Kurban they needed to move. She pulled over on the sidewalk, left the car running and ran toward the collapse.
“It Doesn’t Look That Scary on the News”
Security footage of the Omaha sinkhole had already gone viral by the time Borsutzki sat down with us — but she’s quick to point out that the video doesn’t tell the whole story.
“On the news, it doesn’t look that scary because the cars are like not fully in the hole,” she said. “But seeing it from the scene — it was scary.”
Photo courtesy of Olivia Borsutzki | The sinkhole at 67th and Pacific Street as Borsutzki saw it from the scene on February 24, 2026.
City officials confirmed the sinkhole measured 30 to 50 feet wide and 10 to 15 feet deep. Standing at the edge of that, Borsutzki says she didn’t have time to process any of it.
“I wasn’t really thinking in that situation,” she said. “I was just… doing something.”
Grabbing a Stranger by the Belt
The man trapped in the hole was asking for help. Borsutzki tried to pull him out on her own. It didn’t work. She spotted a bystander nearby who was watching.
“I was like, hey, come on,” she said. Together, they got him out.
Before pulling, she stopped to ask permission.
“I asked him, hey, is it OK if I grab your belt to pull you out? And he was like, yes — just get me out.”
Terrified But Moving
For a college athlete, adrenaline is nothing new — but Borsutzki says what she felt at the sinkhole was different.
“I was terrified actually,” she said. “But when I saw the man in the hole, he was in shock. He was shaking. And he was asking for help.”
Her father, calling from Germany the next morning due to the time difference, put it plainly when he saw what had happened on social media: “Olivia, you were in danger.”
Her response was just as straightforward.
“I wasn’t thinking in that moment,” she said. “I just tried to help and continue with my day.”
A Lesson From Her Dad
Borsutzki credits her instinct to act to her upbringing. Her father has always told her that if there’s anything she can do to help, she should do it.
“I feel like there was — nobody was walking up to that accident,” she said. “So I just, you know, helped out. My instincts.”
UNO Assistant Athletic Director Jordan Sarnoff praised both Borsutzki and Kurban on social media following the incident, writing that the two Mavericks “didn’t hesitate” and that he was proud of them for “stepping up in a critical moment.”
“Don’t Watch. Do Something.”
When asked what she’d say to others who find themselves in a situation where action could make a difference, Borsutzki didn’t hesitate.
“Don’t watch, do something,” she said. “And don’t take your phone out and take videos.”
After the police arrived and confirmed no one needed to stay for evidence, Borsutzki got back in her car and finished the drive home. By the next morning, the story had traveled to Germany, gone national and made her the subject of headlines across the country.
She’s still processing that part.
“When it went down on social media and blew up on TikTok and everywhere,” she said, “I was like — it’s actually that serious.”
Watch our full interview with Olivia Borsutzki above.
