A Utah Highway patrolman was responding to a car that slid off the road in the middle of a bad snowstorm when he was hit from behind by a sliding black sedan in Sardine Canyon, UT on Sunday.
Second generation trooper Sergeant Cade Brenchley got out of his squad car to inspect the sidelined vehicle when he was struck by a that looks like it had lost total control in the slippery conditions.
Miraculously, Cade Brenchley somehow survived the incident.
“I remember everything was black. It felt like a weird dream,” Brenchley said of the incident. He broke four ribs, a shoulder blade, and sustained severe road rash on his face.
And even though he collided with the original car he was responding to in the air, he’s expected to recover.
“Our department is thankful to the multiple bystanders who came to the aide of Sgt. Brenchley after he was struck,” the Utah Department Of Public Safety said.
Some of those bystanders were Cade’s own family. Three of his cousins were some of the first to arrive on scene, along with some of his childhood friends.
Brenchley is using his accident to spread the word about road safety now.
“This type of accident is always what we’re trying to prevent as troopers,” he said in a recent statement to the press. “We’ve got to pay attention to what’s going on around us. When there’s snow on the road, you just need to check your ego and slow down, to be perfectly frank. Be patient. Be courteous.”
UHP Sgt. Cade Brenchley is pleading w/ drivers to slow down after he was hit & nearly killed by car over the wknd while responding to a wreck in Sardine Canyon. This 13 year veteran officer suffered multiple bone breaks but lived to tell the tale & warn others pic.twitter.com/mklFptcwb1
— scott mckane (@macfox13) March 27, 2018
Brenchley says he lost a friend and fellow trooper two years ago when he was struck by a car, and that he’s just thankful to be alive and with his family.
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