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Utah couple forced to jump from second-story window during condo fire discusses road to recovery

Posted at 9:38 PM, Aug 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-11 23:38:23-04

WEST JORDAN, Utah -- A young couple recounted the frightening moment when they were forced to jump out of a two-story window when flames took over their condo.

“I was in so much pain. I had so many broken bones,” Hayley Stegen said.

The fire started in the condo below them Sunday afternoon in West Jordan after a gas oven exploded,killing the woman who lived there and sending the couple to the hospital.

“I just remember him saying, “babe, babe, babe we got to go!” and that's when the panic started,” Stegen said.

For days, Shane Stegen has been by his wife's bedside as she makes her first steps on a long road to recovery.

“Today has been really, really hard; a lot more pain,” Hayley Stegen said.

In the small hospital room they've replayed their dramatic escape countless times.

“He had ash all over him, his eyes were red, and he was talking and you could tell he couldn't breathe,” Hayley Stegen said.

It was Sunday afternoon when flames engulfed their hallway and balcony, trapping them inside the condo with the only escape being their bedroom window two stories up. Shane tried to lower Hayley down.

“He was hanging out the window and the smoke was getting so thick,” she recalled.

Shane says the scariest part was when he had to let go, dropping Hayley nearly 30 feet down to the cement.

“Watching her fall and not even knowing, I just remember yelling from the window and hoping she would open her eyes, but she just didn't move at all,” Shane said.

He then jumped down after her, breaking his hand.

“I just remember yelling her name and trying to get her to wake up but she wouldn't budge,” he said.

The two were rushed to the hospital, and when Hayley woke up she didn't know if she'd make it out alive.

“I didn't know where I was, I didn't remember, there was a fire and I just remember that was it, because I was in so much pain for so long it was never ending,” she said.

The couple feels lucky to be alive but lost everything in the fire. Including their two dogs, Rome and Haegan.

“We keep going over it to see if there's anything we could have done,” Hayley Stegen said. “It was definitely the toughest part.”

The young couple says they will now focus on Hayley's recovery, which doctors say could take up to a year.

“As bad as it was and as bad as she got beat up, it could have been so much worse,” Shane Stegen said.

The couple doesn't know where they'll go from here. They were supposed to move out of the condo days after the fire, and they even had a buyer. They are building a home in Saratoga Springs, which is supposed to be done in November but they are overwhelmed with medical costs and replacing all they lost.

Their loved ones set up a GoFundMe page for them.