Chris Olsen lost his wife and his dog in an icy car crash.
Life as Chris Olsen knew it came to a skidding stop when he hit a patch of black ice and his truck flipped again and again on a snowy Utah highway.
Michelle, his wife of two years, died after being rushed to a nearby hospital. The 29-year-old woman was crushed when the vehicle slammed onto its passenger side.
"I wish I could have been able to trade places with her," Olsen told InsideEdition.com Wednesday. "I try to get through each day without dwelling on it. She was so young to lose her life."
The couple’s dog, Monte, was ejected from the truck and ran off. They had adopted him as a puppy not long after their wedding.
Chris, 30, didn’t know if their beloved pet was alive or dead, but friends and family members started an online search team, asking residents near the crash scene to keep an eye out for the young Rottweiler mix.
But a week after the accident, a couple found Monte wandering in the snow, and they were able to lure him into their kitchen.
"It was so nice to actually cry tears of joy instead of pain after so long," Olsen’s sister, Jamie Olsen Bos posted to Facebook. "They are both injured and have some major healing to begin, but they will take this journey together now."
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Bos credited Monte’s survival to Michelle’s spirit guiding him.
“We know his momma was watching,” she wrote.
Olsen suffered hand injuries and Monte has some scrapes and cuts, but both are now home, where Olsen takes a bit of comfort in having his dog near.
"He's doing really good," he said. "He keeps me company and keeps my mind off Michelle too much."
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