MURRAY, Utah -- A Utah Highway Patrol trooper remains in critical condition at IMC in Murray after getting hit by a vehicle in Cedar City on Monday.
Trooper David Schiers was helping with another accident on I-15 when a car lost control and slammed into Schiers, pinning him underneath. The 911 audio from the call about the Trooper’s injury has been released, see the video above for a portion of that recording.
“They describe it as his feet are straddling the front driver’s side wheel, the car is over half of his body, and he was screaming and yelling, trying to get released from this vehicle as individuals are trying to pick this vehicle up off of him,” Trooper Danny Fuhr said of the crash.
UHP issued an update on Schiers condition on Wednesday, and, unfortunately, he isn’t getting better. He is actually getting worse.
On top of all his broken bones, he has come down with a fever, which is a sign of possible infection.
The wet weather conditions are being blamed as the cause of the accident. UHP says an average of 21 troopers get hit every year by cars, and most of the time it is during inclement weather.
However, they said most of these accidents can be prevented if people just slow down and move over when they see the flashing lights ahead.
“The number one goal of Utah Highway Patrol is for every single trooper to arrive home safely, and it’s troubling when we have to respond to the hospital and you walk in and you see one of your troopers lying on their back with a tube sticking out of their throat,” Fuhr said.
Schiers suffered multiple fractures to his leg, ribs and back, along with a punctured lung. He is also unable to speak at this time.
His wife and three children have been at his bedside all day. He has also been visited by a number of fellow UHP troopers. He is expected to be in the hospital for at least two more weeks.
The Cedar City Police Department is still investigating whether or not the driver of the BMW will face any charges.
FOX 13 News also interviewed a man who spoke with Schiers just moments before he was hit.
"I mean he told us have a nice day, basically, and drive safe, be careful, and then you find out this happens to him it's just a terrible feeling," said Blair Hardey.
Hardey was parked on the shoulder of I-15 right where the crash happened. He had pulled over to check on the victims involved in the first crash.
"It's crazy to watch that video and see that's right where we were, what could have happened," said Hardey referring to the dash cam video.
Hardey recalls the brief conversation he had with Schiers when he arrived on scene.
"I talked to him for just like 30 seconds or maybe a minute, it was just really short and he was trying to get to the accident and get to the people and he told us to be safe and leave when we felt like we could," Hardey said.
It wasn't until later that night, when the Hardey family arrived home in American Fork and turned on the news, that they realized that same trooper, who got them safely on their way, was hit.
"If the troopers wouldn't of got there when they did I would of gotten out of the car and I would of been the one that probably got hit," Hardey said. "My kids were in the back seat, as hard as that car hit you don't know what could of happened to them, the impact would of been in the back of the car, they might not be here today."
