Tulsa Musician Recovers After Metal Debris Flies Through Van Window, Punctures Arteries
A Tulsa man survived a freak accident on I-44, when a link of chain crashed through his side window, puncturing two arteries in his neck, while he was driving.
The origin of the metal piece is unknown, but possibly from a truck passing in the other direction. The accident happened at Stroud on Tuesday morning.
“We're all very, very blessed that we didn't have to watch our best friend die,” Joey Duffy said.
Duffy and his CLIFFDIVER bandmates, Matt Ehler and Eliot Cooper, were in their newest tour van, with Tyler Rogers behind the wheel.
They said the side window seemed to explode, and Rogers slumped over unconscious, with blood gushing from his neck.
Ehler said he “kind of crawled in there over him, and I just hit the brakes as hard as I could, and fortunately there were no other cars right around us because we had to be swerving all over the interstate.”
They managed to stop the van and hold pressure on the wound until paramedics arrived.
Rogers was rushed into surgery in Tulsa, where he’s already out of ICU and could be released within days.
“You forget that you are loved like that until something like this,” said Duffy, who was overwhelmed by the response of fans reaching out, and donating money for expenses.
“It's a miracle, nothing short of a miracle that he's here and doing as well as he's doing,” added Duffy. “We're so thankful. It would be so much heavier if it wasn't for everyone, I mean, the immediate outpouring, loving on us, it's been amazing. We're so thankful, so grateful.”