MIDVALE, Utah — Over the summer, Kelsey Shirley jumped from a moving truck involved in a police pursuit. Months later, her Midvale family says the fact she’s still alive is a miracle.
"I fainted because of everything, the shock and fell down our 12 stairs and had a concussion," said Shirley's mother, Shireen Pickering.
It was on the night of July 23 when Pickering learned her 24-year-old daughter wasn’t expected to make it after suffering life-threatening injuries in the incident where Box Elder Street meets Frontage Road.
"She suffered a crushed pelvis, nine broken ribs, her lung and her liver was pretty much lacerated," Pickering said of Shirley's injuries.
According to Pickering, Shirley was getting a ride home from a party from a man she didn’t know well, unaware she was riding in a suspected stolen pickup truck.
Pickering says her daughter told the driver to stop during the high-speed pursuit so she could get out of the truck, but the man refused and that’s when Shirley ejected herself from the vehicle.
"He went and turned the corner and she jumped out and tucked and rolled and the back dual tires ran over her body and he kept going," described Pickering.
The driver was later arrested and faces numerous charges, including failure to remain at an accident and reckless endangerment. Meanwhile, Shirley was hospitalized for 32 days, where Pickering said she flatlined three times and underwent nine surgeries.
"Even though it’s been awful, it’s been a blessing," Pickering said. "So we're blessed to still have her ... she is a miracle and she’s supposed to be here."
Having suffered through alcohol and drug addiction, Pickering believes her daughter survived to put those issues behind her and to inspire others.
"This, hopefully, will be a life-changing experience for her," she said, "and she can go on to have a better life and, you know, make better decisions and just become a new person, and tell what she been through and be an example to everybody else in her life."
