One month ago, a wife and her husband were in a serious accident that seriously injured her and killed him. She is now out of the hospital, and back home recovering from her back and neck injuries. The two were training for the St. George Spectrum 10K race when a car hit them both. The car had been propelled by another car whose driver was texting, who had rear-ended the first. The impact killed him almost instantly when he pushed his wife away from the blow. Her injuries included fractures in her back and neck, requiring over 5,000 stitches as well as facial reconstruction surgery. Amazingly, after some physical therapy, she is expected to have a full recovery.
The wife wants to use this tragedy as a way to prevent others from going through the same thing. As part of a distracted driving campaign, she is preparing to speak to high school students throughout southern Utah. Her daughter said, “She wants to put her energy into spreading awareness.”
In addition to hosting a “silent” 5 K race in Mapleton to honor their father, and the plan to purchase billboard space, the children launched a website promoting awareness of the severity of the problem: Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks.
The daughter said, “Our main objective is to hopefully get stricter cellphone laws in Utah… Distracted driving is just not smart. When people start realizing how dangerous it is, we think they’ll eventually be persuaded.”
From all of us at Christensen & Hymas, we thank Leslee for her bravery in this campaign. Let’s keep each other safe and aware out there on the roads.
Image courtesy of ksl news