the lowdown

First of all, he IS alive! And he has his legs!

We know there are so many stories circulating. Kelsey wanted us to let you know a little about what happened. . .

Tuesday morning, Shawn went to Logan to pick up a minivan for work. (Yip, all of you who know him can breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't HIS van!) He had picked up the van and was driving back toward Tremonton when he drifted over into the oncoming traffic, hitting an oncoming semi truck. Thankfully, the driver of the truck (also a buddy of Shawn's), saw him coming, slowed, and did the best he could to avert the collision.

Shawn doesn't remember anything about he accident, and awoke sometime briefly following the collision. We know he hadn't been on his cell phone, as he remembers waking to it ringing and someone asking if he could reach it. It was clipped onto his belt and someone was able to answer the phone. It was actually his brother-in-law AJ, who was calling to chat with Shawn and actually didn't immediately believe the woman who told him Shawn had just been involved in a serious accident. Unbelievably, Shawn and AJ were able to talk with this woman's help. Shawn told AJ that he was trapped, and that he didn't know what had happened. He said that his legs were starting to hurt and he hoped someone arrived soon who could get him out.


At this point, he was also able to give phone numbers to people who were able to call his wife and his mom. Thankfully, one of the first people on the accident scene was a neighbor of his parents and was able to make that call. Because of these calls, Kelsey, his mom, and a brother were able to get to the scene of the accident and see him before he left with LifeFlight.

If you've seen the pictures, you can imagine how tightly Shawn was trapped in the van. From what we've been told they had a really hard time getting him out. He has said that he made it through by imagining his "happy place"- telling himself he was somewhere else, and this was only a dream.

From what we've been told, anyone involved is completely amazed that Shawn is alive.

He was life flighted to McKay Dee Hospital in critical condition. He has broken the larger bone in his lower left leg. The surgeons have placed a rod and pins in that leg. In addition to his leg, he as 4 broken ribs, and a broken sternum. A portion of his lungs is collapsed, but that is doing well. He also had some spleen damage, which they are monitoring closely. He is currently in the intensive care unit, but as you can imagine, is giving them heck! The nurses are all happy they have a patient who can actually talk to them!