A couple from Cary remains hospitalized after their UTV rolled over down into a ravine, leaving them with serious injuries, in Tennessee last weekend.
Alan Steffens and Kelly Steffens were riding in a utility vehicle last Saturday while on vacation in Cocke County, Tennessee.
The UTV got too close to the edge of the gravel road and rolled off the side, dropping 15 feet.
Alan Steffens was pinned underneath the vehicle and Kelly Steffens was ejected.
Alan Steffens suffered a broken neck and back, according to their son.
Kelly Steffens suffered a broken neck, back and minor brain bleeding.
“Once my mom came to she was somehow able to climb back up to the road and find help, but from the time she was able to do that almost two hours had passed with my dad still being crushed by the UTV,” Charles Steffens said.
The two were airlifted to a hospital for treatment. “We drove down from Chicago not knowing if our parents were even alive. Luckily they survived,” Charles Steffens said.
Both remain hospitalized and are stable. Alan Steffens has undergone multiple surgeries to reconnect his intestines, repair his bladder and repair fractures to his pelvis.
Andy Steffens, one of the couple’s sons, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the crash was “near fatal.” He said that his parents, who reside in Cary, have lived in McHenry County for over 20 years.
“My dad has enough to worry about in this situation and I know that these medical bills are going to crush his spirits. Me and my brother are going to do all we can to help but I know that support from others would mean the world to him,” Charles Steffens said in a GoFundMe post.
Almost $19,000 has been raised for the couple so far.