Local mother searching for hero who saved her son’s life following UTV crash

PALISADES — A Shelley mother is desperately looking for the hero who saved her 12-year-old in a UTV accident last week.

“My son could have been easily dead before I got there. I just want this man to know and thank him for what he did for my son,” said Jayme Peters.

Peters says that July 22 was supposed to be a fun camping trip with family and friends at the Palisades with their UTVs. However, it quickly turned into a chaotic night when her son Lucas was airlifted to the ICU at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Peters explained they were two hours into their vacation when the accident happened around 9 p.m.

“(We were barbecuing) and my son and his two sisters got in the UTV to go ride. They were driving in the sand and hit a rock as they turned in the rut and the UTV went head over heels and rolled. My son grabbed inside the cage and his leg was outside the cage and that got caught and like a hamster wheel, he continued to roll and was ejected,” she said. 


Lucas had a helmet on and had taken off his seatbelt. One of his sisters was driving, the other sister was in the middle and Lucas was on the side of the UTV.

He began screaming in pain.

“After he was ejected, it rolled onto him once and also pinned his sister underneath it,” said Peters.

Lucas’ brother was nearby and able to lift the UTV off of them. A man that nobody knew, known as the hero in the story, then came to the rescue.

“He helped him from bleeding out. He happened to be in the right spot at the right time,” she said.

By the time Peters got to the scene, which was about 15 minutes later, she noticed the man giving Lucas first aid.

“He had already applied bandages and tourniquets and was taking care of him. There was a lot of commotion going on and the man calmed me,” she said.

After first responders rushed to the scene, Lucas was taken by a medical helicopter to the hospital where he currently is recovering from extensive injuries.

“He broke his ankle, his femur, his pelvis is broken in five spots, broke his sternum. He broke his left arm wrist and hand area and he dislocated his right,” said Peters.

The man saved the tissue on Lucas’ foot and prevented severe damage.

As for his sisters, one of them fractured a rib and the other was bruised. Peters said Lucas is grateful it was him that was hurt rather than his sisters.

Lucas has had one surgery and may need future surgeries. He will be going through physical therapy when he is out of the hospital. He is hoping that he can get out of the hospital this weekend and find the man who saved his life.

“He said he normally works construction and had a tent up there (at the Palisades),” she said.

She found out that he is a road worker near the Idaho and Wyoming borderline. He was tent camping at the Palisades and had a white unmarked truck that looked like it was used for construction.

“My son would like to meet him if possible but if anything, I just want him to know how thankful I am for saving my son,” said Peters.