Veteran who witnessed deadly head-on crash tried to save lives
Retired U.S. Marine Corps and Army veteran Brian Mumey was traveling across the country on vacation when he witnessed a devastating wreck in front of him.
On Monday, a sedan traveling on Highway 177 north of Desert Center crossed the median to pass slower traffic and went head-on into semi truck.
4 killed in Desert Center crash, including beloved HS coaches
Mumey pulled over and used the skills from his multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq to try to help.
“I reached down to take a lady’s pulse and at that time he gasped for air. So I flinched a little bit because I didn’t think he was alive,” Mumey said.
Mumey applied pressure to the driver’s wounds until help arrived.
The male driver, 30-year-old Matt Hodges of Carona, was alive and was taken to Desert Regional Hospital but died a few hours later. Mumey says the impact was enormous and reminded him of the damage done by an improvised explosive device.
The other victims in the car have been identified as 20-year-old Marissa Garnica, 21-year-old Jessica Giraldo and 20-year-old Gabrielle Constante. All three were from Murrieta. Hodges and Constante were respected high school soccer coaches.
Mumey says the mother of one one of the victims of this crash was driving right behind him when it happened.
“I remember somebody had pulled up and said ‘Oh my God, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter.’ And we had other people kind of take them away because we didn’t want her to see what happened,” Mumey said.
Mumey says the way other drivers were acting as they passed by was disturbing.
“There was just so many people that just drove by and were running their cameras. It was really frustrating. It’s like don’t they have something better to do. Pay attention to the road so we don’t have another accident,” Mumey said.
The driver of the semi truck was not injured. Investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Joe Galli is on Facebook and Twitter @JoeGalliNews
