LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As our community mourns the loss of Officer Colton Pulsipher in the wrong-way crash on the I-15 Thursday, it's a painful reminder of how these incidents shatter families.
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Las Vegas police officer one of the victims in early morning fatal crash on I-15
This past summer, I met Julian Khoury in the hospital after a similar crash took his father's life and left him with life-changing injuries.
I reached out to him again on Friday to better understand the long-term impact these tragedies have and why they strike so deeply for so many of us.
It destroys just anything and everything around you. My family is destroyed. Right? Friends are hurt.
June 20 is a date Khoury will never forget. Driving home with his father, Elie, their lives were shattered in an instant by a wrong-way driver on the 215 northern beltway— speeding over 100 miles per hour.
Abel Garcia: Tell me the impact that wrong-way driver crashes can have on people here in our community.
Julian Khoury: Just like last time, it's just as bad. It's so much more avoidable than people make it seem.
The crash left Khoury seriously hurt— fractures along his spine, burns and months of recovery ahead. His father did not survive.
Abel Garcia: This will be your first Christmas without your father. How is this impacting you?
Julian Khoury: It's gonna be a very difficult holiday. My birthday was in November. And now, both of my little brothers' birthdays are coming up. It's disturbing.
In July,I sat by Khoury's bedside as he struggled in pain— barely able to move.
Besides the obvious factor of losing a loved one and losing a father, I lost two and a half months of my life.
Nearly six months after the crash, he told me he's still battling the injuries and memories every day.
"Instead of growing as a family, now the young ones are forced to grow up too quick. At 24, I'm dependent on as a father, a brother, and a partner," Khoury said.
As our community mourns Officer Pulsipher, Khoury said his plea for all of us is to be more aware when getting behind the wheel.
"I can't even tell people to be careful because it feels inevitable," Khoury said.
