A Utah Highway Patrol trooper who was hit by a Jeep on Christmas Eve told FOX 13 News about the incident.
Trooper Brent "B.J." Shelby spent Christmas in the hospital due to the injuries he sustained. On the evening of December 24, Shelby was investigating a crash on Interstate 15 at 7600 South.
He was placing flares to direct traffic away from a crash when a passing Jeep slid into the left wall of the freeway, then into him.
"I knew it was going to end up bad. I knew I was going to get hit. The only thing I could think to do was try and get up and over it. Like I say, if you go under them, your survivability's a lot lower then if you go over them," Shelby said.
Shelby said his right knee came in contact with the right font corner panel of the Jeep, which threw him into a somersault. He landed on his head.
"I got a pretty severe knee injury. I got several pulled and torn muscles in my leg, my neck and my back. I also received a concussion, a head injury and some road rash on my head there," Shelby said.
Shelby was able to walk from his truck to an ambulance and complained of head, neck, leg and back pain. He was scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon Monday for consultation on treating his knee.
It may be several months before Shelby is able to recover and go back to work. He hopes the incident will serve as a reminder for drivers to slow down and use caution in winter driving conditions.
"It doesn't do you a lot of good to go fast and not get there when you could go slow and get there," Shelby said.
Shelby has several family members who are also UHP troopers. He said his brother was involved in a similar crash one week earlier. In that incident, another Jeep slid into a UHP patrol car. No serious injuries were reported in that crash.
