A former ESPN sportscaster miraculously lived to recall the terrifying moment he was ejected from a moving RV onto a busy California highway.
Cordell Patrick was traveling on State Route 14 in Southern California on Monday, when his wife fell asleep at the wheel just as he got up to use the RV’s restroom.
“I had just unbuckled my seat belt — it was unbuckled for five seconds,” Patrick told KTLA from a hospital bed as he recovers from several broken bones. “I noticed my wife had dozed off, so instead of going straight, we are headed toward the median and I tried to grab the steering wheel, but before I could grab the steering wheel, we already had impact.”
The motor home struck the median at about 60 miles per hour, ejecting Patrick out of the RV’s driver side window, over the divider and into oncoming traffic. A dashcam video from another vehicle shows the RV grinding against the median as an SUV swerved around Patrick who was rolling on the highway, being thrown a total of 170 feet.
“All I’m thinking about is that I’m going to get hit by a car,” the former ESPN announcer said. “I’m on one of the busiest freeways in LA County, so what was going through my mind was, ‘I’ll be dead shortly.’
“I just dragged myself and then I leaned up my back against the median until help could come and help came pretty quick,” he added.
According to KTLA, Patrick suffered broken bones, a dislocated shoulder, a road rash covering 60 percent of his body, and lacerations on his head that required 17 stitches. But amazingly, Patrick is expected to make a full recovery from the incident. His wife and dog were also thankfully unharmed in the freak accident.
“It was divine intervention,” Patrick told KTLA. “If you didn’t think there was a higher power before this, I’m a living witness and I’ve got a living testimony to tell.”
[KTLA]
