MURRAY -- His friends call him "The Machine."
On Wednesday, it was hard to tell that the second-year student at the University of Utah was in such a bad crash. With a toothpick in his teeth, Bullock was calm as he retold the story and joked with his friends who came to visit.On Monday, Bullock was, ironically, en route to the hospital for an appointment when he entered the intersection of 1300 East and Zenith Avenue and was T-boned by a vehicle that ran a stop sign. The impact tipped Bullock's vehicle onto its side and into a nearby chain-link fence.For the next two hours and 20 minutes, according to Bullock, all he could do was wait for rescuers to cut him out. But again, good fortune was on his side.Once he'd cut the wires and pushed an opening through the fence, Kabat hung banners, prayed, and tried to break open the hatch into the silo. Alerted by a remote detection system, Air Force security personnel arrived about 45 minutes later and took Kabat into custody. A Weld County sheriff's deputy was summoned to the scene and arrested Kabat on misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and trespassing.Bullock had high praise for the police, firefighters and paramedics who helped him. After a lengthy procedure, firefighters were able to use the Jaws of Life to cut through the car and cut the pole that was pinning Bullock. But there was a still a 3-foot section of the metal pipe stuck in his leg, which paramedics didn't want to remove until he got to the hospital.Kabat is being held on $5,000 bond, which he refuses to post. He pled not guilty to both charges, and his trial is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. December 9 in the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colorado. Pretrial hearings are scheduled for November 6, 10, and 23. For more information, contact Bill Sulzman at (719)389-0644 or bsulzman@juno.com.Authorities said the accident occurred about 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of N.E. Sardou and Winfield.Police at the scene said the Tahoe appeared to have been traveling east on N.E. Sardou when the driver lost control of the vehicle, which crossed the westbound lane and struck a tree and power pole at an alleyway on the north side of the street.SUPPORT ACTIONThis silo, N-8, rests in the ranchland about 30 miles northeast of Greeley, Colorado. It's one of hundreds of nuclear missile silos still scattered across the American plains.But at the time, Bullock didn't know what had happened or the extent of his injuries. He was bent over the steering wheel of his crushed car, stuck to something that had penetrated his leg and unable to move.According to Westar Energy, 32 customers in Oakland were without power for several hours Sunday after the accident.The experience, however, has brought his family closer together, he said, as well as shown him how many people care. Bullock has been visited at the hospital or received text and phone messages from not only friends and family members, but also high school acquaintances to whom he hasn't spoken in years, police officers who were at the scene of the crash and even eyewitnesses who never knew Bullock until they saw the accident.He said he was most scared when he reached the emergency room and was about to go into surgery. Doctors told him of all the possible outcomes. It was that moment that Bullock now calls "the birth of Zim-Page," because of his ID number on his chart going into surgery.On Wednesday, The Machine was up and walking again -- albeit very gingerly -- after his most recent, and most horrific, crash.A sport utility vehicle crashed into a tree and power pole before it careened across two lanes of traffic and jumped a curb, finally stopping when it hit the chain-link fence of a home Sunday afternoon in the city's Oakland neighborhood."All of the right people responded," he said.No other injuries were reported.Earlier this year, a truck parked on the north side of the same residence on N.E. Winfield was struck by a car after it had been involved in a two-vehicle crash at N.E. Sardou and Winfield.
e-mail: preavy@desnews.com
Author: Pat Reavy Deseret News
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