- Driver Stephen Slater reunited with Kamden Lee, who comforted him following a crash in February.
- Utah Highway Patrol troopers said it took 3.5 hours to get Slater out of the truck.
- The emotional reunion occurred nearly six months later, with both pledging to stay connected.
SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly six months after a crash that left him trapped in his mangled semitruck, a driver reunited with a stranger who comforted him during the ordeal as he waited for rescuers to arrive.
Stephen Slater was driving on Legacy Parkway on Feb. 4 when one of his front tires blew.
"The right steer tire just completely shredded off, but then instead of going off to the road, it went to the inside of the steering knuckle," Slater explained. "I mean, this quick, I was into the guardrail and then the guardrail ran out, and I went off to the right."
Slater said he believed he may have lost consciousness bouncing through the dirt before the truck landed on its side in a ditch.
"I guess a tree came through and stuck in there and everything, and I guess that's what made it such a pain in the butt to get me out," Slater said. "They had to excavate through the back of the truck (and) pull the seat out from under me. All I remember is kind of like having a dream where my leg was stuck, which it was, and all these guys in suits were trying to pull me out."
Utah Highway Patrol troopers said the extrication took 3.5 hours that day, and trauma surgeons were flown to the scene in the event they had to amputate Slater's pinned leg right there.
Slater was eventually freed from the wreckage and had to have his left leg amputated below the knee.
Related:
Man hospitalized after being pinned in truck for several hours in Legacy Parkway crash
A man suffered serious injuries Tuesday and was taken my medical helicopter to a hospital after firefighters extricated him from a crashed semitruck in Centerville.In recent months, the phantom pain has faded, but he continues to work on navigating the balance of a new prosthetic.
"Any slight deviation creates a shortness or too long of a step that scares me at times because it feels like it's going to twist my leg or wrench something, so that's what we're working on now," Slater said.
Slater has also spent considerable time thinking about the stranger who stopped at the scene and comforted him prior to first responders arriving.
"I took my coat off and put it under his head to try to give him a little bit of comfort because he was in pain. He was screaming and it was pretty gruesome, to be honest," Kamden Lee said during an interview with KSL-TV on Feb. 5. "I was just there, holding his hand, and trying to comfort him, just telling him to breathe."
Slater said he always wanted to meet Lee and thank him for what he did.
"That's an incredible person to do that thing," Slater said. "I was wondering if I would ever get in touch with him ... or something."
Though the two men live approximately 175 miles apart in Ephraim and Brigham City, they met for the first time July 28 at Salt Lake City's Liberty Park.
At the request of those close to Slater, Slater was kept in the dark about the meeting so it would be a surprise for him.
It certainly was.
"What the (expletive) is going on here?" Slater said after it took a couple of seconds to recognize Lee, who showed up at his side as he demonstrated his prosthetic to a KSL-TV crew.
Lee told him he was so glad he was OK, given the chain of events in February.
"Thanks for being there, man," Slater said, as he turned emotional after embracing Lee.
The two caught up on lost time, exchanged numbers and pledged to stay in touch.
Lee said he had wanted to connect with Slater as well.
"Ever since it happened, I wanted to see how he was doing — I wanted to go to the hospital, but I'm sure it was a bad time," Lee said. "I'm really happy to be able to meet him right now and see how he is doing."
The look on Slater's face said it all.
"It's really something," he smiled.
