1 Hit and run

Claudia received a phone call from our daughter Anna on Tuesday afternoon, August 21. She was crying. She was calling to report that her husband Pete, while riding his bike to work that morning, was hit by a car that turned left into him. He was in the trauma unit up at the University Hospital.

Witnesses reported that the driver, a woman they guessed to be as young as 20 and as old as 40, got out of her car, looked at Pete lying unconscious on the ground, threw her hands up in the air, and then got back in her car and drove off.


Pete remembers seeing the car, which he thought was a black Celica, turning into him and waved and yelled at the lady. That's the last he remembers. The witnesses called emergency responders, and an ambulance came and whisked him off to the hospital. The Salt Lake newscasts that night reported that it was thought the car was a dark green Saturn.

Pete was pretty banged up and had a concussion, a fracture at the base of his skull, a compression fracture in his back, a chipped front tooth, and abrasions all over his face and on his left ankle. Fortunately, nothing else was broken. Had he not been wearing a helmet, he likely would not have survived.

As I was reporting all this to a coworker the next day, he put in in perspective: "So, all he has is a broken neck and a broken back, but basically he's OK." Pretty much.

Our daughter Eliza has a two-year-old son named Peter. He thinks a lot of his uncle who shares the same name. Eliza blogged from Georgia: "For those of you who may not know, my brother-in-law Pete was hit by a car yesterday while he was cycling to work. Gratefully he was wearing a helmet that literally saved his life. The woman that hit Pete got out of her car and looked at Pete unconscious on the ground and then she got back in her car and took off—which is completely unfathomable to me.

"My Mom said that Pete had a fracture at the base of his skull where his spinal cord meets his head. He also has some type of fracture in his back. At this point they don't think he'll need surgery but as of last night he was still listed as a trauma patient. Pete is going to be in a lot of pain but all things considered he's doing well. It's hard when things like this happen to your loved ones and you live so very far away and you feel like you cannot help. I'm grateful my parents are keeping us in the loop and giving us updates. And we are praying. Lots of praying here on Pete and Anna's behalf.

"Last night we told Peter what happened to his godfather, uncle Pete. We were using it as a good reinforcement of not running off into the parking lot (like a toddler loves to do) because you could be hit by a car and get very, very hurt.

"Peter asked a few questions about Pete and then he said, 'let's say a prayer for Pete.' And before we could even agree with Peter that saying a prayer was a wonderful idea, Peter had already folded his arms and bowed his head and was saying a prayer. It was a very sweet little prayer. I wish I could remember exactly how he said everything but it was so genuine and tender.

"Then this morning when Peter woke up one of the first things he told me was that Pete got hurt on his bike. Peter wanted to say another prayer. In his prayer this morning he said to 'Please bless Pete who got hurt on his bike. He in the hospital with blood. Help him be happy and get no blood so he can show me the monster again at his house, the nice monster. And no more blood and he be okay, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.'

"Paul, Peter, and I will keep on praying since we cannot help out much more than that from Georgia but we have a testimony of the power of prayer. We are grateful that Heavenly Father is watching over and caring for Pete and Anna. Any prayers from you readers on Pete's behalf would be more than welcome. I can't even imagine the emotions you'd experience to have your husband be struck by a car + throw on top of that some good old pregnancy hormones... so please pray for my sweek sister Anna too.

"And here's a picture of Pete and Pete, godfather and godson. I took this picture while we were out visiting Utah for spring break in March at Pete's house. Pete was teaching Peter how to do push-ups. This happened right before Pete showed Peter the 'monster' in the closet of his house. That was such a fun night!"

The news now reports that the police found and impounded the car they believe hit Pete. The car in custody is neither a black Celica nor a dark green Saturn. What they have is a 1999 green Plymouth with front-end damage consistent with hitting a cyclist. It was found in the parking lot of Salt Lake's East High School Tuesday afternoon. Officers say it belongs to a teen who attends the school, but they don't believe she was driving the car when it hit the cyclist Tuesday morning.

Pete was released on Wednesday evening, April 22, after spending two days and just one night in the hospital. He sports a neck brace and a back brace that he will be wearing for quite a few weeks. Or months. And he is going to be pretty sore for a while, but we're all grateful he's in as good a shape as he is.