USU motorcyclist thankful to bystanders for gift of life

LOGAN — The family of a motorcycle rider who was pulled from beneath a car and burning motorcycle says he's alive today because of a dozen bystanders who rescued him from the wreckage.

Brandon Wright, 21, suffered several broken bones, road rash and some bruises as a result of being pinned under a car Monday and was recovering Tuesday at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray

Wright's uncle, Tyler Riggs, said Brandon remembers everything that happened. "He remembers being under the car spitting out blood, not being able to talk, and he told his parents that that was really scary when he couldn't talk,” Riggs said.

He especially remembers those people who risked their lives to save his.

"He knows that there are angels out there that saved his life, people came together, risked their lives, to save him," Riggs said.

Tuesday, Riggs thanked about a dozen people who saved his nephew from what could have been a fiery death. "Just thank you from all of us in the family," he said.

Wright, a student at Utah State University, was leaving campus Monday when he collided with a BMW. The accident happened around 11:45 a.m. Police say Wright was heading east on U.S. Highway 89 and swerved to avoid being hit by another vehicle that was pulling out of the parking lot across from the university's Lund Hall.

His uncle said Wright knew he was in trouble so he laid his bike down in an effort to protect himself.

When Brandon's bike and the BMW collided, Wright became pinned underneath the car. His bike burst into flames, catching the car on fire. Bystanders quickly ran to help and began lifting the car to free him and one man then pulled him to safety.

"A lot of times things happen these days that shake our faith in humanity," Riggs said. "Not one person, not two people, (but) nearly a dozen people rushed together to a burning scene and lifted a thousand-pound car. That is absolutely incredible."

Grad student Abbass Sharif heard the commotion from his office just yards away. “We were looking around the motorcycle for him,” he said. “We didn’t expect him to be under the car.”

"If there's a person who might die, the chance that he might die if no one helps him is gonna be 100 percent,” said Sharif, who is working toward a doctorate in statistics. “And the chance that I'm gonna be in danger with him, it's gonna be what 15, 20 percent? Fine, I don't care."

Odds aside, Sharif and several others didn’t hesitate to step in. One of them was another grad student, James Odei.

"The only thing that came to my mind was, 'What if that was my son, or my brother, or any other relative of mine? What would I have done?”' he said

While the bystanders are considered heroes, none of them seem to look at it that way. “It was more to do with making sure that guy survived, at least making sure he had a second chance at life,” Odei said.

After he was pulled from the underneath the vehicle, he was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Riggs said Wright had some broken bones, including a broken pelvis. He also suffered a bad burn on his left foot. But all things considered, “he’s in pretty good shape for someone who went through that and had a car on top of him and a burning motorcycle next to him.”

Wright hasn't seen the video — which has since been featured on national news shows and has gone viral — of those strangers pulling him from the burning wreckage, but he is aware of it and will likely watch it one day, Riggs said.  

“He wants to thank them,” Riggs said. “He knows they saved his life, and at a later time, he'll give a message himself. He knows it's a miracle and the strength of humanity came together and really gave him a gift.”