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It was rush hour on the morning of June 1 in the West Texas city of San Angelo.
6月1日早上，德克薩斯州西部城市圣安杰洛正處于交通高峰期。
Heather Santellano, 36, was driving her white 2012 Mazda on Houston Harte Frontage Road with her nine-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son in the back.
36歲的希瑟·桑特拉諾開著她的白色2012年產馬自達行駛在休斯頓哈特臨街，她9歲的女兒和10歲的兒子坐在后面。
Suddenly, a red pickup truck cut them off. Santellano turned the wheel hard to the right,
突然，一輛紅色的小貨車攔住了他們。桑特拉諾把方向盤用力向右轉，
sending the Mazda skidding off the road and down an embankment that ended in a drop-off after about 50 feet.
汽車在行駛50英尺后滑出公路，沿著一條堤岸滑下。
If the car didn't stop, it would go airborne and plunge onto the road some 20 feet below.
如果這個汽車沒有停的話，它會飛到空中，然后在20英尺以下的路面上墜落。
Then a bit of luck: As the car raced toward the edge, its undercarriage got stuck on the cement lip of the embankment ledge, stopping it cold.
然后再來一點運氣：當汽車沖向邊緣時，它的底盤卡在了路堤邊緣的水泥邊緣上，車停了下來。
The occupants, however, were far from safe. The car had come to rest on top of a retaining wall, literally teetering on the edge of disaster.
然而，里面的人卻很不安全。這輛車停在了一堵擋土墻上，幾乎是在災難的邊緣搖搖欲墜。
One sudden move by anyone inside could send it over. Jacob Rodriguez watched the scene unfold from the truck-accessories company where he works.
里面任何人的突然舉動都能把車弄翻。雅各布·羅德里格斯在他工作的卡車配件公司目睹了這一幕。
A veteran, he whispered a Navy mantra: "Ship, shipmates, self," then he and four other men ran to the car.
作為一名老兵，他低聲念著海軍的咒語：“船，船友，自己。”然后他和其他四個人跑向汽車。
They leaped onto the trunk to balance the weight as the terrified kids in the back seat watched.
他們跳上后備箱來平衡重量，而坐在后座上的孩子們則驚恐地看著他們。
Meanwhile, Julio Vasquez and his nephew, Marco Vasquez, were driving to their jobs at nearby Premier Auto-motive.
同時，胡里奧·瓦斯克和他的侄子馬爾科·瓦斯克正開車前往附近的Premier Auto-motive上班。
Julio jumped out of the car to help while Marco went to the shop, grabbed a heavy-duty strap, and returned to the dangling car.
胡里奧趕快下車去幫忙，馬爾科則去商店買了一根結實的皮帶，然后回到那輛搖搖晃晃的車那里。
He tethered the Mazda to an F-350 truck that had been driven over by one of the other rescuers.
他把馬自達綁在一輛F-350卡車上，這輛卡車是被其他救援人員開過來的。
With the car secured, the group carefully opened the back doors and helped the children out.
把車系好后，大家小心地打開車后門，把小孩們救了出來。
But their departure shifted the car's weight, causing it to tilt forward.
但是他們的離開改變了車的重量，使這輛車向前傾斜。
The men, still on the trunk, implored Santellano to jump into the back seat to rebalance the weight.
他們幾個人還在卡車上，他們讓桑特拉諾跳到汽車后座上來平衡重量。
She did and then inched out the back door. Finally, the men carefully got off the trunk.
她照做了，然后從后門走了出去。最后，他們小心地下了車。
Everyone was safe. "Another foot," Rodriguez told USA Today, "and this would be a different story."
每個人都安全了。羅德里格斯告訴《今日美國》，“再差一英尺，這就會是一個不一樣的故事。”
