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LOGAN — After a fun day snowmobiling with family in the Peter Sinks area of Logan Canyon, Samantha Bergman decided to go tubing down a hill with the group one last time before heading home Saturday.
"The last thing I remember saying was, 'I love you. I'll see you at the bottom,'" said Michael Tietz, Bergman's fiancé.
As the group was heading down the hill with their tubes tied together in a train, Tietz saw a snowmobiler drive into their path.
"My brother-in-law was going down yelling at him, so he stopped," Tietz said. "When he stopped, the tube came down one hill and went down the other. When they came over the top, they just hit the snowmobile head-on."
Tietz raced to his fiancé's side, where he saw extensive injuries to her face. He quickly called for help, and bystanders assisted until Cache County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue members arrived on scene.
"I ran back down to the hill where she was at, laying, like, lifeless, just bleeding everywhere," Tietz said.
She was flown to the University of Utah, where doctors told the family she would have a long road to recovery ahead of her.
"She broke her back in three spots, tore some ligaments in her neck, and then she's going to have reconstructive surgery on her cheekbone," Tietz said.
The family is grateful she survived the accident and is hopeful she will make a full recovery. They are urging others to be cautious while on snowmobiles this winter.
"Be careful, pay attention, and obviously if you see a hill loaded with 20, 30 people at the top of the hill tubing down, commonsense: don't drive into the hill," Tietz said.
Loved ones have set up a GoFundMe* campaign to help with the family's unexpected medical bills.
*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.
