USU Eastern Student Says Boulder Narrowly Missed Hitting Her
Feb 5, 2019, 6:58 PM | Updated: 11:42 pm
PRICE CANYON, Utah – Just short of her journey back to school, at the Utah State University Eastern campus, Gabrielle Sainsbury says a large boulder came crashing through her windshield Sunday.
“I tried to swerve,” Sainsbury recalled. “And I just could hear the crash of the windshield, like the glass breaking.”
Sainsbury says moments before she had noticed something in the distance, out of the corner of her eye.
“I was like, ‘what is that? I think there’s something moving. I think there’s something falling,'” Sainsbury said. “And then I realized that it was going to fall on me, like all within a split-second.”
That brief moment of reaction, Sainsbury believes might have saved her life.
“I looked around, like baffled that it had happened, like that was my car, and I was checking to make sure it was real,” Sainsbury said. “My whole car was busted, shattered, and there were a ton of cars, like stopped in the canyon, and people around me, circled my car, asking if I was OK.”
Sainsbury says a few people helped her out of her car, called Highway Patrol, and got her some water. Now recovering from a concussion, she’s taking the week off school, while she recovers at her sister’s house in Herriman.
“It’s incredibly scary to think about like if somebody had been driving with me; that that person would have been seriously injured or hurt,” Sainsbury said.
Sainsbury is dreading the thought of driving through the canyon, along Highway 6 again, but says she will ultimately have to go back to school. She’s grateful to be alive, and for the lesson that she learned about how important it is to pay attention on the road.
“I’m pretty used to the canyon, you know? You see the falling rocks sign, and you don’t think they’re actually going to fall until they do,” Sainsbury said.
She’s hopeful others can take from her lesson, and remember to watch the road, and not be distracted.
“It was a good life experience,” Sainsbury said. “Just helped me realize how important life is, and how it could be taken away.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up.
