She could not communicate with our officers. She was having a little bit of a hard time (communicating), so officer Hough went out of his way to dig through the entire car. He was finally able to find the hearing aid underneath the rear passenger seat of the vehicle, was able to give that to her, and then they were able to communicate. – South Ogden Police Sgt. Trent Olsen
SOUTH OGDEN — A Roy man says he's grateful to a South Ogden police officer who went out of his way to help his hearing-impaired wife who was in a terrible car accident.
Jessica Hinckley and her 6-month-old baby, Alyssa, were involved in an accident Friday while traveling south on Washington Boulevard. The force of the crash set off the air bags. During the accident, Jessica’s hearing aid came out and broke apart. She could not tell those on the scene about her injuries.
“She could not communicate with our officers. She was having a little bit of a hard time (communicating),” South Ogden Police Sgt. Trent Olsen said, “so officer Hough went out of his way to dig through the entire car. He was finally able to find the hearing aid underneath the rear passenger seat of the vehicle, was able to give that to her, and then they were able to communicate."
Officer Bryan Hough, who did not want to be interviewed, was able to communicate with Hinckley and find out how he could help her and her baby. Alyssa was secured in a car seat and wasn’t hurt, but her mother was rushed to the hospital with an injury to her right foot.
Del Hinckley was at work when he got the call informing him that his wife and daughter had been in an accident.
“I just broke down,” he said getting teary eyed, “because of my daughter and her and I didn’t know how they were. I was worried.”
He rushed to the hospital, but on the way there stopped by the accident scene. There he was told his wife was OK and was able to communicate with them once they found her hearing aid.
"It just blew my mind that he actually took the time to go through my wife's car, completely, until he found that hearing aid," Hinckley said.
Hough told him to go to the hospital to be with his wife and daughter and that he would talk to them later.
“I went there (to the hospital), and I was just so happy to see my daughter just giggling and laughing like nothing happened,” he said. Then I see my wife, it was just really hard to see her injured.”
Tests revealed that Jessica Hinckley had four fractures and partial crushed bones in her right foot. She underwent surgery Monday to have it repaired.
Hough has been with the force for almost 15 years. “He’s always gone out of his way for everybody that he deals with,” Olsen said. He even went to the hospital to check on them.
Hough teaches a class on how to properly install child seats.
“Officer Hough even went out of his way to make sure that it (car seat) was in the car correctly, and that if he needed to pass any pointers onto them,” Olsen said. “It was in properly, but we did advise the owners that they probably need to replace that seat. Anytime you have a major crash like this, involving a car seat, it’s good to replace that car seat.”
Hinckley said they had gone to the hospital and received training to make sure the seat was probably installed, and he’s grateful they did.
“I’d be devastated if I didn’t have my daughter here,” he said, breaking down in tears while holding her tightly.
Email: cmikita@deseretnews.com