UPDATED: Tow truck driver struck by car, seriously injured on Colo. 52

[TowNews]

A tow truck driver was seriously injured on Christmas Eve while working at the scene of a single-vehicle crash on Colo. 52.

 

According to Colorado State Patrol, a woman crashed her blue Jeep into a guardrail near 115th Street at around 6:20 p.m. The 50-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, Trooper Gary Cutler said.

 

Later, a 51-year-old tow truck driver working at the scene was struck by a four-passenger Honda. The tow truck driver was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center with serious bodily injuries, Cutler said. He was still at the hospital on Thursday afternoon, according to hospital staff.

 

The driver of the Honda has not yet been charged in the incident, but Cutler said that charges are pending. The State Patrol doesn't believe alcohol or drugs were involved in the second crash.

 

RESOURCE LINK

 

 

 

DACONO, Colo. -- David Conover loves his job, because he gets to help people when they’ve hit a rough spot, sometimes literally. He’s been driving tow trucks for the past 20 years, currently working for Cozy Corner Towing.

“We met because my car broke down and he saved me,” said David’s wife Christy Conover.

 

David says he’s had some close calls in his two decades on the job, but done compared to a job he had late on Christmas Eve along Highway 52. One driver didn’t give him enough room.

 

“As I was jumping up on my truck to get out of the way off the vehicle, I got hit,” Conover said. “Bone was sticking out of my leg. I didn’t know if I was going to make it home to my family.”

 

Now he has 40 staples and 20 stitches in his right leg, to go with a compound fracture in his femur. He’ll need to take a long time to heal, and an even longer time to get back to what he loves, if at all.

 

“I can’t do my job, I can’t support my family,” Conover said.

 

So his tow family turned around to support him Sunday night, as dozens of tow trucks from different companies rallied in procession style and parked outside his front door in Dacono.

 

“There may be different names on the side of the trucks, but the tow family is family,” Conover said.

 

And as first responders and tow truck drivers scramble New Year’s Eve to help people across Colorado roads, the Conover’s have a message for drivers.

 

“If there are any type of flashing lights on the side of the road, it doesn’t matter if it’s a police car, an ambulance a fire truck a tow operator or anybody, give them room to work,” Christy Conover said. “Give them an opportunity to go home to their families.”

 

RESOURCE LINK with video

[mooresbp]

Hope he will make a full recovery.