Photographer uneasy with hero status

It was 90 seconds of chaos.

Deseret Morning News photographer Keith Johnson says he can't remember much about the accident that sent two of his co-workers to the hospital with critical injuries Tuesday morning.

"It all happened so fast," Johnson said in an interview Thursday. "It was such a freak accident, and I'm pretty shaken up about how badly those guys were hurt."

Photographer Chuck Wing remains in serious condition, and Gary McKellar is in critical condition after an out-of-control Jeep pinned them against a wall. Doctors had to amputate one of Wing's legs and are still working on saving one of McKellar's legs.

The driver, 75-year-old Hossein K. Sepehri-Nik, told the Deseret Morning News that he would like to visit the injured at LDS Hospital or send flowers. But Sepehri-Nik, who also goes by the first name Ed, said his lawyer had advised him not to comment about the accident.

Johnson — the man who forced the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee into reverse and was dragged backward at full speed to save his friends' lives — was released from the hospital Tuesday night with a broken left ankle and some nasty abrasions.

Since leaving the hospital, Johnson has shied away from visitors. But Thursday he opened up and talked to Wing, whom he hadn't seen since the accident.

"I think we were both pretty emotional," Johnson said. "Just me being so glad he wasn't hurt worse than he was, and I just think we were both relieved to hear each other's voice."

The nightmare began Tuesday morning when Deseret Morning News staffers Wing, McKellar, Johnson and Mark Reece were walking on a sidewalk along Regent Street on Tuesday for a midmorning break.

Johnson rarely joined his co-workers for such an outing — he said he was usually bogged down with photo assignments. But Tuesday's schedule was wide open, and Wing invited him out for a breath of fresh air.

It was a move Johnson will never regret.

"I'm just glad I could do what I could to help," Johnson said.

He rushed to action after an out-of-control SUV jumped the curb, knocked down a parking meter and pinned Wing and McKellar to a parking garage wall.

In the ensuing chaos, Reece grabbed the gear shifter and tried "everything to get the car away" from Wing and McKellar. He said everything moved so fast that he could not remember if he put the car in neutral or not.