UTAH COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 18, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is saying a Utah County man is alive in large part because he was wearing a seatbelt when his truck went down a 200 embankment in Spanish Fork Canyon.
“An Orem man is alive after his truck crashed near Wardsworth Peak in Spanish Fork Canyon,” a UCSO statement says. “It is likely wearing a seatbelt saved him from more serious, or even fatal, injuries.”
The incident happened at 6:23 a.m. Wednesday, the statement says.
“Deputies with the Utah County Sheriff’s office were dispatched to a report from a man who said he crashed his truck and he was injured in Spanish Fork Canyon. The man was uncertain of his exact location, but said he’d gone up Diamond Fork, to Springville Crossing, where he took the road to the Right Fork of Hobble Creek. He said he then took Forest Road (FR) 132, but from there he was uncertain where he was.”
Search and Rescue responded, and initially they were unable to use either LifeFlight or Utah DPS helicopters, or the Sheriff’s Office airplane because of rain and clouds, the statement says.
“SAR members went by motorcycle, four wheeler, and side-by-side in an effort to find this 47-year-old Orem man. Two team members began their search by going up the Left Fork Hobble Creek Canyon Road, which connects onto FR 132. These two team members took that road, then turned down FR 153, near Wardsworth Peak, to continue their area search.
“A couple of miles down this road they looked down a steep embankment and saw a white pickup truck. A short time later the SAR members heard the man yelling to them.”
The man’s injuries were not life threatening, it was determined. A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter was called to the, scene and landed near him.
They transported the man to Springville Crossing, where Diamond Fork Road and Right Fork Hobble Creek Road meet, the statement says. A Spanish Fork Ambulance crew treated the man and transported him to a hospital.
The man said he was on frontage road 153 when his truck began to slip and teeter over the edge, the UCSO statement says.
“After teetering for a few moments it continued to slide and then crashed 200 feet down the side of the mountain. The location of the crash is a short distance from Wardsworth Peak. The man’s injuries were not life threatening and he is expected to recover.”
