EMERY, Utah – We learn more about how a community came together to help passengers on a Greyhound bus that crashed in central Utah late Monday night. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
READ: Greyhound bus rolls off I-70 in central Utah, injuring 32
“It probably took 45 minutes to an hour between receiving the call and having the food ready,” said Kris Payne, Emery LDS ward bishop. “We had pancakes and bacon and eggs ready for them when they got here.”
When Kris Payne first got the call to help passengers who had just had a Greyhound bus accident on I-70, he and his neighbors in Emery had no hesitation in getting out of bed.
“It’s just like that here, especially in these rural areas,” Payne said.
Payne says his wife was a paramedic and was already on her way to the scene when he received a call from law enforcement to bring some uncritical passengers to their church to warm up and eat.
“One room is set up, some of them try to sleep there, and then more medical personnel came in one of the larger areas to examine some of the passengers off the bus,” Payne said. “They ended up transporting several more after being reevaluated in the church.”
A total of 32 of the 37 passengers had to be treated. Bishop Payne says most of the passengers were confused after the wild ride, but grateful strangers were there to look after them.
“When someone needs help, be it a member of our Church or a stranger, people here take the chance to help,” Payne said.
One of those passengers is Mary Morrisett, who was on her way to the trucking school in Salt Lake City. Mary is currently in a Provo Hospital. Her husband flew in from Georgia on Tuesday night.
“Her hip was dislocated, her socket somehow broke off, a piece of bone broke, and her other hip was broken,” said Will Morrisett, Mary’s husband.
Mary had a six-hour operation on Wednesday to place plates and screws in her hip.
Her family started GoFundMe to help Mary and her husband, whose lives are now disrupted.
“It hurts a lot because now I’m alone and can’t be at work right now,” Will said. “Really grateful because it could have been a lot worse.”
According to the doctor, Mary will not be able to put weight on her hip for three months, then she will use a walker for another three months.
Here’s a link to Mary’s GoFundMe page if you’d like to help pay medical bills and build a ramp in her home for her months of recovery.
Comments are closed.