An emeritus general authority for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was recovering from a skull fracture in a Salt Lake hospital Thursday after his car hit a pair of horses near Afton, Wyo., police said.
Elder Vaughn Featherstone, 72, who is president of the Logan Temple, was returning to Logan Wednesday night with his wife, Merlene, after speaking at a fireside for a group of Boy Scouts near Grover, Wyo. He was driving on U.S. 89 when his car struck two horses in the road about 8:30 p.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper Brad Anderson said.
The first horse was decapitated. The second horse smashed through the car's windshield on the driver's side and peeled the roof off the Featherstones' car down to the trunk, Anderson said.
The impact knocked Elder Featherstone out, but his car kept traveling. His foot floored the gas pedal, and his car continued down the road at a high rate of speed, according to one witness. Elder Featherstone's wife had to lean over and turn off the car, which coasted for nearly a mile before it hit a snowbank and stopped, Anderson said.
Afton resident Nathan Turner was returning home from the same fireside and was the first to come upon the accident. Even though he had been sitting in the second row during the fireside, he didn't recognize Elder Featherstone.
Turner said the car was peeled open like a tin can. Elder Featherstone at that time was semiconscious, saying he needed to get back on the road and keep driving, he said.
Turner went to a nearby house and had the residents call 911. He then pulled a first-aid kit and some blankets from his car to help the Featherstones in the freezing weather until paramedics arrived.
Initially, emergency crews couldn't find the car because it had traveled so far from the accident scene.
After searching the area, Anderson said, he found the car with its roof torn off. While approaching the vehicle, he said, he was already on the radio to his supervisor telling him to be prepared to make death notifications.
To his surprise, both Elder Featherstone and his wife were sitting up and talking. Merlene Featherstone said she thought they had hit a cow.
"I was quite amazed," Anderson said of seeing both of them conscious and semi-alert.
Rescue crews needed to use the jaws of life to cut open Elder Featherstone's door to get him out, Anderson said.
He was taken to Lincoln County Hospital and then flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City. He was reportedly taken to LDS Hospital, but a hospital spokeswoman was unable Thursday to confirm that because of federal hospital privacy rules.
The Wyoming trooper said Elder Featherstone received a CT scan in Wyoming that reportedly revealed a skull fracture, a possible fractured cheek and other injuries. An eye surgeon was reportedly on standby in Salt Lake City for Elder Featherstone's arrival, Anderson said.
LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said Thursday that Elder Featherstone's injuries were not life-threatening and that he was expected to make a full recovery.
Merlene Featherstone suffered a cut to her hand, possibly from flying glass, Anderson said. She was treated at a hospital in Afton and released.
The trooper had pulled Elder Featherstone over about 10 minutes prior to the accident for a broken taillight. Anderson said he warned him that there was a problem of animals wandering onto the unlit road at night.
Elder Featherstone told the trooper he needed to get back to Logan and that he would be careful, Anderson said.
The horses are believed to have escaped from a fenced-in area at a ranch near where the accident occurred. The snow gets so deep in the winter that the fences become a lot shorter, Anderson said. He believed the horses were probably able to just make a small jump over the fence.
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