Harrowing video captures the moment a former ESPN sportscaster was thrown from his RV on a bustling California highway. The incident occurred after his wife, who had fallen asleep at the wheel, collided with a divider. ESPN sportscaster Cordell Patrick and his wife were traveling from Newhall to their Valencia home on Highway 14 when the accident occurred on Monday.
An injured Patrick, later explained while lying in a hospital bed, that they were merely 10 minutes away from their home when he had unbuckled his seatbelt to use the toilet. While standing, he saw that his wife had fallen asleep, and the RV was heading in the wrong direction.
Brush With Death
As Patrick rushed to regain control of the steering wheel, the motor home collided with an approaching divider, KTLA reported. "I had just unbuckled my seat belt. It was only unbuckled for five seconds," Patrick told the outlet.
"I noticed my wife had dozed off, so instead of going straight, we were headed toward the median. I tried grabbing the steering wheel, but before I could grab it, we already had impact," he said.
This impact resulted in the sportscaster being ejected out of a window, landing in the carpool lane on the southbound carriageway outside Newhall.
A chilling dashcam video, recorded by another vehicle, shows the RV scraping against the divider while Patrick rolls on the pavement. He was flung about 170 feet across the road amid heavy traffic.
"All I'm thinking about is that I'm going to get hit by a car," he told the outlet. "I'm on one of the busiest freeways in LA County, so what was going through my mind was, 'I'll be dead shortly.'"
In the video, a white SUV can be seen swerving to avoid hitting Patrick, who suffered severe injuries in the incident.
Saved Just in Time
The video also revealed Patrick's skin being torn off on his arms, stomach, and legs due to the impact of the incident.
"I just dragged myself and then I leaned up my back against the median until help could come and help came pretty quick," he told the station.
Another motorist, Alf Smithey, pulled over when he saw the shocking scene.
"I noticed the guy is laying in the road still," Smithey recounted to KTLA.
"I was just trying to keep cars away from him. He was all the way there [conscious]. That was the shocking part.
"I asked him his name, I asked him all kinds of stuff and he was all the way there. He knew he broke his arm, he knew he broke his leg," he said.
As a result of the accident, Patrick sustained multiple fractures, dislocated his shoulder, and needed 17 stitches on his head. He also suffered a rash covering approximately 60 percent of his body, as reported by the outlet.
Despite the extent of his injuries, Patrick expressed gratitude for miraculously surviving the freak accident.
"It was divine intervention," Patrick told KTLA. "If you didn't think there was a higher power before this, I'm a living witness and I've got a living testimony to tell."
Fortunately, Patrick's wife and their dog emerged unscathed from the accident, which resulted in significant damage to their RV. According to his biography, Patrick had previously served as a studio host for the Chiefs and Spurs on local television stations.
