Former ESPN Sportscaster Survived Ejection from RV Window onto Freeway But Was 'More Concerned' for Wife
Cordell Patrick, a former ESPN sportscaster, said he had just unbuckled himself from his seat to go to the bathroom when the crash occurred on Monday
A former ESPN sportscaster is recovering after he was ejected from his RV and onto a California freeway.
Cordell Patrick and his wife were on their way home to Valencia on Monday when the incident occurred on 14 Freeway south of Newhall Avenue, according to CW affiliate KTLA.
Patrick was launched onto the opposite side of the roadway shortly after the RV drove over the center median, CBS affiliate KCAL-TV and NBC affiliate KNBC reported.
Dashboard camera footage of the incident, obtained by the local outlets, showed the man rolling multiple times on the southbound side of the roadway after he was thrown from the driver’s side window of his RV, which was traveling north.
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Somehow, both Patrick and his wife survived. “It was divine intervention,” he 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.”
Patrick and his wife were returning from a camping trip in Menifee at the time of the crash, according to KCAL-TV.
The former sportscaster told KTLA and FOX affiliate KTTV that he had unbuckled himself to use the restroom just seconds before he was tossed from the moving vehicle.
“So instead of going straight, we were headed toward the median,” he said, per KTLA. “I tried grabbing the steering wheel, but before I could grab it we already had impact.”
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Patrick was seriously hurt upon being thrown from the vehicle, according to KTLA. He broke multiple bones, dislocated his shoulder and sustained road rash on about 60% of his body, as well as lacerations to his head.
After landing on the freeway, Patrick feared death. “All I’m thinking about is that I’m going to get hit by a car,” he said. “I’m on one of the busiest freeways in L.A. County.”
Alf Smithey, a good Samaritan who stopped to help, said Patrick’s wife was frantically looking for her husband when he reached the scene of the crash, according to KNBC. He eventually found Patrick, who, despite having “a big old gash on his forehead,” was conscious.
“His biggest concern was, ‘How was my wife?’ I was like, ‘You’re the one who flew out of the vehicle.’ He was more concerned about her,” Smithey recalled.
In an interview with TMZ from the hospital, Patrick said his wife "blacked out" and is now undergoing medical testing.
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Patrick was transported to a local hospital in critical condition after the crash, KNBC reported. His wife and their beagle were uninjured.
"I do know how I am alive, by the grace of God," Patrick said, per KCAL-TV. "That was divine intervention and nothing else."
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