Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — It was a normal Saturday morning when Austin Patten — newlywed, triathlete, data analyst — got up early to take his car into the shop for some work. He attached his bike to the back so he could drop the car off and ride the bike home.
Austin was on that ride, just 2 miles away from home, when he started descending a hill on Fort Union Boulevard near 2300 East in Cottonwood Heights.
“A Jeep was coming up the hill, and the sun had just kind of peeked over the mountains,” Austin recalled. “They were coming up the hill and needed to turn left to get into a parking lot. I was coming down the hill, and because of the sun they were unable to see me.”
The collision that followed caused nine broken ribs, a ruptured bladder, a dislocated ankle, a broken pelvis, and more gruesome injuries.
It also broke Austin's spine. He is now paralyzed, he said, from his navel down.
The accident was on Aug. 17, two months and two days after he married Jill Patten in the Latter-day Saint temple in Draper.
“We both met here at church,” in 2014, Austin said, noting with a laugh that they were “not too fond of each other” at first.
“We ended up working together on some stuff,” he said. “We got annoyed with each other and stuff like that, with the way that each other wanted to do things. But it helped us learn how to communicate.”
Over a few years, he said, they went from reluctant associates to best friends who did “everything together.”
Eventually, he asked her on a date and, eventually, she agreed. They began dating in October 2018 and were married in June. “It was a very long road to get to dating,” he said. “She gave me a shot, and I’m eternally grateful for that.”
Jill is originally from Virginia; Austin from Illinois. After serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil, Austin came home in 2010 and began training to run his first marathon.
“I kind of got hooked,” he said.
After a few years, nagging injuries made running more painful and Austin started biking more instead. Then a friend asked him to do a triathlon — though, at the time, Austin didn’t know how to swim.
“I had six weeks to prepare, so I jumped in the pool almost every morning with him,” he said. Sure enough, six weeks later he competed in his first triathlon. Austin said he’s now completed seven marathons, almost a dozen half-marathons and five triathlons, including the St. George Half Ironman in May.
Today, he’s relearning how to sit up, balance, and fend for himself.
“The staff at the University (of Utah) Hospital here has just been incredible,” Austin said. “They do so much to help me out and teach me the skills that I need.
“I’m about three weeks into rehab. I’m starting to be able to sit up on my own. I’m able to get mostly dressed. Getting into my wheelchair is still a challenge — I need assistance getting into my chair, oftentimes.”
The injury and therapy have also come with excruciating pain and unexpected side effects, he said. “I don’t think I can describe how painful it is.”
The nerve pain, he said, is the worst, the result of his body trying to communicate with its immobilized extremities. He is prone to random spasms, and his body’s temperature regulation is out of whack. “One second, I can be freezing cold and feel like it's 20 degrees. And the next second, I can feel like it's 100 degrees, and I'll be sweating.”
The accident has given Austin a new perspective on issues that affect wheelchair users and paraplegics, and his Facebook account is filled with posts about these insights. “We don’t want pity. We don’t want you feeling sorry for us,” he wrote on Thursday, linking to an educational blog post about people in wheelchairs. “Whatever happened to us happened and we can’t change that. … Just because we are paralyzed doesn’t mean we aren’t happy.”
On Friday, for the first time since his accident, Austin was able to get in and out of a vehicle. Eventually, he plans to renovate his car and relearn how to drive; but first, he has to focus on getting out of the hospital and back home — he’s shooting for early October.
His sister-in-law, Amy, and other family members have helped Austin and Jill find a new, more accessible apartment in Draper that he can go home to when he’s out. The couple recently sold the brand new house they’d been preparing to move into, convinced that it could no longer accommodate their needs.
Amy has also started a GoFundMe page* for the couple.
Austin said his employer, Costa Vida, has assured him that his job will be waiting for him when he’s ready.
“I almost cry every time I think of the support Costa Vida’s giving my wife and I,” Patten said. He works for the company as a data analyst, and his co-workers regularly visit the hospital to check on his progress.
Costa Vida has set up benefit nights for the Pattens throughout the region, where 20% of their proceeds go to the family. Four more such events are coming next month: at the Saratoga Springs location on Oct. 1, Lehi on Oct. 3, Draper on Oct. 8, and West Jordan on Oct. 10.
Austin said he’s grateful for the outpouring of support and prayers he’s received since the accident — from his company, their families and his church.
But Austin Patten is most thankful for the support of his new bride, Jill, who just this week returned to her job teaching second grade in the Granite School District. Between the school and the hospital, Austin said, it’s like she’s working “two full-time jobs.”
“I don’t know how to adequately explain the struggle that it is for her,” he said. “It’s hard for me to completely grasp because I’ve never been in the situation where I’ve had to take care of my spouse and wish that I could take that pain away.
“Every day, it makes me love her more and more because of the sacrifices she is making for us, and the love that she shows me. She’s the most incredible woman I know.”
Though he’s looking forward to adjusting and moving on with his new life with Jill, Austin said he’ll always cherish the memories they made together before the accident. “We were at her cousin’s wedding the night before the accident,” he said, “and the last picture we have together, of me on my feet, is us doing a slow dance.”
Jill loves dancing, he said — Austin, not so much.
“I thought that was really nice,” he said. “It’ll be a phenomenal memory for her.”
He said the couple is trying to remember the example of the giraffe, Jill’s spirit animal — “stand tall and be brave.”
“No, giraffes aren’t the most graceful animals, but they’re tall and they’re confident,” he said. And that’s what Jill reminds him now, too: “Stand tall, be confident, and fight off those difficult challenges that may come.”
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
