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Samantha Hayes ReportingThis was one of the worst crash scenes the Utah Highway Patrol has ever seen, eleven people thrown from a Utah State University van. No one was expected to survive, but students did, and today one of them was well enough to speak.
Robert Petersen: "All the men involved were some of the finest men I ever met."
Robert Petersen feels blessed to have survived, and now carries with him a great duty to represent his friends who did not. He doesn't think of himself as extraordinary, and instead praises the efforts of the hospital staff, his family, and everyone at the University for how much they have done in his behalf and those who passed away.
Robby Petersen's two legs are broken, so are two ribs, his left foot, and his nose, but it's his heart that hurts.
Robert Petersen, Van Crash survivor: "My heart is heavy with the loss of those in this terrible incident."
Nine people inside this van died when it lost a wheel and rolled at 90 miles per hour. Everyone was thrown out. Peterson does not remember that, but he does remember what happened earlier that afternoon, a field trip to learn about farm equipment.
Robert Petersen: "We were all pretty excited to be there. We had been in the classroom quite a while and we were excited to be out and look at the machines and see how they operate. The last thing I remember is looking back at the shed that the combine was in and getting into the van."
His next memory is of his father.
Robert Petersen: "I don't remember what day it was. I woke up. He was standing in front of me and told me what happened."
Carl Petersen, Father: "I've asked myself a thousand times why, but we're very fortunate and we don't know why."
Peterson knew the other students in the van well; he went to high school with two of them. They all bonded over families and farming.
Robert Petersen: "Most of us were raised on small family farms, enjoyed that quality of life and that's what we were longing after. It's sad to think some of them won't be able to share that."
Petersen does not remember if he wore a seatbelt, but says he usually does.
Doctors say Petersen could be walking again by December.
