Injured Good Samaritans On The Road To Recovery
By Jeff Todd
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- Two good Samaritans injured in a suspected drunk driving crash are out of the hospital and recovering.
"There's a really good chance I wasn't going to live," said AJ Short.
Short was released from the hospital about a week ago, but he and another victim have endured surgeries and mounting hospital bills after they originally were just trying to do the right thing and help a different injured driver.
"I see headlights coming at us. The headlights are not slowing down," Short recalled of the May 9 crash on U.S. 36 and Violet street in north Boulder. "I turn back to Sona and try to push her out of the way, and try to get her out of the way which obviously didn't happen."
"I remember getting my hands on Sona and I remember coming to in the middle of the street," Short said. "I see the yellow lines, the white line and I know I'm still in the middle of the road. I know I have to get out of the road because I'm going to get hit again if another car comes."
Short says the next thing he remembers is a neighbor yelling at him. Short had injuries from head to toe including a broken hip, and severe laceration to his abdomen.
"I feel like I should have been able to get her out of the way which didn't happen," Short said.
While in the hospital Sona Shrestha was recovering nearby Short. The two strangers started to visit each other while on rehabilitation walks. The two now regularly text and are sharing their journey to recovery.
"Just checking up on how each other's injuries and rehab and doctors visits are going," Short said.
Shrestha wasn't able to walk in her University of Colorado graduation ceremony because of her injuries. Short had to cancel a trip back to Uganda where he had been working.
"There's a lot of people I love there that I was excited to go visit, can't do that," Short said. "I should have been dead and God saved me and I don't know why that is yet."
Both Short and Shrestha have GoFundMe pages set up to help with medical expenses.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
