OKLAHOMA CITY -
A taxi cab driver
is fighting for his life, while his passenger is thankful to be alive after
they were hit head-on early Friday morning.
Aside from being
extremely sore from the impact, and a few cuts and bruises, 40-year-old Warren
Wand essentially walked away from the accident.
"Right now, I'm
just very thankful, happy to be alive," said Wand.
At about 4 a.m. Friday, what started as a routine early morning trip to work for Wand turned into an experience, he says, could have taken his life.
"On our way to
work down the Broadway Extension, like we normally take, and from there, I
couldn't even believe it," said Wade. "It was like a sudden impact that just
happened."
When Warren woke
up, after being unconscious in the back seat of this cab for several minutes,
he was surrounded by first responders and flashing lights.
"Somebody was just
telling me to stay, just lay there, just lay there," said Wand.
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"I was going down
the Broadway Extension, and I see all these police cars, and I was trying to
figure out which way to go," said Wand's mother, Debra Wand.
At the time,
Wand's mother, who got the call her son was in an accident, didn't realize the
accident she just passed was the one her son was in.
"I said, 'Oh my
God!' I just wondered if anybody was hurt really bad," said his mother.
"My kids came
across my mind a whole lot," said Wand. "Looking back at the vehicles and
stuff, that's all I could think of."
Wand says his cab
driver was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious. The mother of the
driver, who lives in Nevada, says 37-year-old Benny Wadsworth had only been in
OKC a few years. She says at this point, doctors tell her Wadsworth has severe
brain damage and is likely not going to make it.
"A lot of people
are not too fortunate, and like I said, I'd like to thank God," said Wand.
Police say the cab
was hit head-on by Ivan Nitsch, who was driving the wrong-way. Nitsch was also
trapped in his van, after it rolled on its top. Police say it's
still unclear why Nitsch was on the wrong side of the road. Investigators will
wait for toxicology reports to determine if alcohol was a factor.
Benny Wadsworth, 37, was driving the taxi. His condition is very critical.
