We were returning home from our vacation on I-15. It had been hazy all day due to dust from a fire several months ago. Several miles south of Fillmore, we were traveling when visibility suddenly became almost zero due to the dust storm. It was as if we had gone into a blizzard or bank of fog.
I became very nervous very quickly and immediately began to slow down. All of a sudden we could see some taillights in front of us and we knew something was not right because they were too close together and they were not in lanes.
I had a distinct impression that I needed to pull off of the road and stop. I reacted immediately and got out of the left lane and on to the shoulder and came to a stop or near stop. I had just relaxed because I knew we weren't going to run into anyone when we got hit from behind.
I can't even begin to describe the feeling and the sound. When we finally settled, I looked at Amy and she was bleeding from a cut in her head. I then turned and looked at the girls who were screaming. This was the happiest and saddest thing I have ever seen. I didn't want them to go through this but I was glad they were not unconscious or worse.
After a couple of minutes, Amy and I got our bearings and we got the kids out of their seats. I had to shove my door open and we were able to get out of the truck. We borrowed a phone and called Amy's mom and then kind of walked around not knowing what to do.
There were people running around everywhere and lots of smashed cars. We finally decided to go back to the truck due to the dust and wind. As we were trying to get back in, God sent someone to assist us. A man said that we could get in his car.
We took the girls down to his car (they were almost in the accident) and his wife and daughter helped Amy with the girls and got them out of the wind. He then helped me get together some of our stuff and worked to get the EMTs to check out Amy.
When the EMTs did come, they decided to take her to the hospital by ambulance due to her back and neck. The wonderful family watched the girls while I finished working with the police to get permission to leave.
The family then drove the girls and I to the hospital where we were all checked out. Amy was hurt the worse. X-rays showed no breaks but she did have to get stitches on her forehead. I had a sore neck, a sore head, and a sore waist. Miraculously, the girls only had a few marks from their carseats.
Once we had checked out of the hospital, the wonderful family took us to their nearby home while we waited for Amy's mom and sister to come and take us back to St. George.
We have been in St. George since recovering. Amy and I have gotten sorer as the days have passed which is normal. Amy's mom and Mary Esther's family have done a great job taking care of the girls and helping us. We have also realized how blessed we are to have so many friends and family offer us assistance.
Since the accident, we have tried to piece together what happened. After discussions with the troopers, this is what we know.
The dust storm caused an initial accident in which there was a least 1 fatality. This is the accident we saw when came upon it. We were very lucky that we got off the road because a semi truck was behind us doing 50 - 60 and hit 3 different cars. I believe there was a fatality in one of the first two cars struck.
The second car struck was our truck. They estimated we were hit by a fully loaded semi doing 40 - 50 mph. The impact crumpled the back bed of the truck and almost instantly accelerated us to his speed. It also began spinning us. We spun around and hit the trailer of the truck with our front right side.
During the collision, I was thrust backwards in the seat bending it. I was then catapulted forward and hit the steering wheel with the right side of my head. This explained the half circle bruising from above my right eye and around to my right ear. I was also shoved into the seat belt on my left side which explains the major bruising on my left side.
Amy was less fortunate. While she had her seat belt on, we are not sure if it came undone, stretched, or if she came out of it. While she doesn't remember taking it off, we were all a little dazed. Regardless, she flew into the dash and hit her head on the window. She felt like she was spinning and bouncing around and couldn't stop. She had major muscle strains in her lower back and bruising all over her head, shoulders and arms. She also received a cut on her head.
We were very blessed. If I had not gotten over, we would have been shoved into other cars ahead of us. If I had stopped just a little sooner, we would have been hit from the side and the impact would have killed one or all of us for sure.
The Lord watched over us and prompted me with the reactions needed to save our lives. Of this I testify.
This is the final resting spot of the truck. You can see the trailer of the truck that hit us 2 feet behind us. We are blessed that it didn't roll on top of us as it was carrying giant rolls of paper. As you can see, we ended up in the median off the road. This is because I had pulled off the road and we were thrown clear of the other vehicles. It saved our lives.
Here are more pictures taken 2 days after the accident. You can see that the back of the truck saved our lives. It did exactly what is was suppose to do, crumple in a manner to absorb energy and not penetrate the cab of the truck. If we had been in any other type of vehicle, I am not sure the girls would have survived.
View of the back. You can see how the bed folded up on itself.
The damage in the front is due to us spinning around and smacking the trailer. The airbags did not go off since it was not a true front impact. If we had been smashed into other cars, there would have been more fatalities and more serious injuries.
Another view of the back.
Shows some of the damage and chaos in the back seat. The DVD player was destroyed. We are thankful that it didn't seriously hurt anyone in the vehicle. It was even strapped down.
If you look close, you can see where Amy hit the windshield (center of the picture)
The back seat was broken and the bed started to penetrate the cab. The car seats really saved the girls.
You can see where I hit the steering wheel and bent it. I honestly don't even remember it. It happened too quickly.
You can see how I bent the seat during the initial impact. We were hit on the back right which shoved me into back into the right side of the seat twisting it. We are very thankful we had full headrests set to the correct height. It minimized our whip lash.
Below are pictures of other vehicles in the accident. In all, there were 10 cars involved and 4 semis. As I have said, it is a miracle we survived.
This picture doesn't do justice for the lack of visibility right before the accident. Even thought it was 3:30 in the afternoon, I couldn't see more than 15 - 20 feet.
They had to cut the driver out of this car. We would have been directly behind him if we had not moved over. We would have been crushed into him killing him and us.
