The Omnibus

Issue date: 4/22/04 Section: News

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The Southwest Baptist University track team will always remember last weekend, but not because of the races. At 10:20 p.m. on Friday, April 16, the team was returning home from the Central Missouri State Mule Relays when the team van overturned after colliding with a pickup truck about 12 miles north of Clinton.

Last Friday, April 16, the Southwest Baptist track team was involved in an automobile accident when a driver ran a stop sign and collided with the team van.

The driver of the 1996 Ford F-150, 23-year-old Douglas Wetzel of Blairstown, ran through a stop sign at 60-70 mph and sped into the path of the SBU van. After contact with the truck, the van spun several times and then rolled onto the driver's side in a ditch.

Junior Austin Bunn climbed out the passenger doors, which were now at the top of the van, and senior Brandon Sherrer opened the back doors to get out. Together they helped seniors John Harris and Jenny Trevathan and juniors Erika Anderson and Christine Showler climb out. Several passing motorists stopped to assist.

Harris then went over to the wrecked truck and found Wetzel through the passenger side of his vehicle. After being helped out of his truck by Harris, Wetzel fled the scene on foot, leaving his fiancée and baby who were in the car behind him.

Junior Tom Miner flew partway through a driver's side window and became trapped under the overturned van. Using what they attribute as "God-given strength," Sherrer and Bunn lifted the van to pull Miner's upper body free.

Still inside the van were Coach Mark Misch and junior Michael Haub. Haub's right leg was trapped underneath a seat, and the rest of his body was being supported by Misch. In order to get Misch out of the van without further disturbance of Haub, Bunn slid into Misch's position to hold him up.

Soon after this point, paramedics arrived at the scene and were able to extract Haub from the vehicle. Helicopters touched down in a nearby field and airlifted Showler, Miner and Haub to hospitals in Kansas City. Misch, Anderson, Harris and Sherrer were taken to hospitals in Clinton and Warrensburg and released after treatment. Paramedics examined Bunn and Trevathan at the scene. Misch, Harris, Bunn and Sherrer had been wearing their seatbelts. The other occupants had not.

"The guy at the body shop (where the van was taken) said he had never seen a wreck like that with nine people in it where nobody died," Misch said.

Misch suffered a broken left arm.

Showler, who had been thrown forward several seats in the collision, was treated for whiplash and a cut on her head. She was released from Research Medical Center Saturday.

Miner has a broken nose and damage to an eye socket on the right side. He was released from St. Luke's Regional Hosptial Sunday.

Haub suffered a torn tendon in his ankle and face trauma. He underwent two surgeries over the weekend to put plates on facial bones. He was released from St. Luke's Regional Hospital on Monday but remains in the Kansas City area to continue treatment.

"We are glad to be alive," Misch said. "God had his hand in the whole thing, orchestrating everything, even the people who stopped to help."

All involved have physical soreness and bruising, but the emotional effects are harder to treat. There has been an extensive web of encouragement and assistance for the team.

"I'm thankful for the support at SBU," Anderson said. "The prayers and the help have been amazing."

The team shares the perspective that God is working to bring good through this situation.

"For the people involved, April 16 will be a day they can use forever," Misch said, "whether it's sharing with someone or talking about drunk driving or thinking about forgiveness."

Wetzel, who fled the scene after the accident, was laer hospitalized and released. Charges were pending at last report.

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