Passenger In Taxi, Hit Head-On, Talks About Crash

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.

2/15/2013 Related Story: I-235 Near I-44 Reopens After Wrong-Way Crash 

"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.