An 18-year-old was seriously injured after an unidentified driver apparently decided to play a game of chicken with his car on a darkened road.
Jordan Potter, of Spokane, Washington, told KHQ he was driving home from his job at a Super One supermarket the night of August 3, and was heading westbound on 29th Avenue when a car heading eastbound swerved into his land and was coming straight at him.
The teenager swerved to the left in order to avoid a head-on collision with the other vehicle – which he describes as large with round headlights – but smashed into a concrete barrier in front of a home.
The impact was powerful enough to deploy the airbags of his vehicle and knocked him unconscious, destroying the front hood of his car.
Doctors later said Potter had a traumatic abdominal hernia, abdominal wall contusion, a dislocated foot and a concussion, and needed stitches in his left hand. He will also need surgery in October.
Jordan Potter, 18, suffered major injuries after an unidentified driver apparently decided to play a game of chicken with his car on a darkened road on August 3
But Potter says he is only interested in finding the driver of the other vehicle – especially after another woman claimed the exact same thing happened to her earlier in the night.
‘I’m just trying to figure out who did this, you know, trying to catch them,’ he told the local news station.
He added that he could not believe what had happened.
‘I did not think it was real,’ Potter recounted. ‘I totally thought I was dreaming. When I woke up, I was like, “There’s no way this just happened.”‘
Potter said the other vehicle had swerved into his lane and was coming at him head-on, so he swerved out of the way – and collided into a concrete wall
Potter suffered traumatic abdominal hernia, abdominal wall contusion, a dislocated foot and a concussion, and needed stitches in his left hand
Fortunately, neighbors in the area rushed to Potter’s aid following the collision – including Caleb and Katelyn Watters, who were spending their first night in the home blocked by the concrete barrier.
‘It was just really sad to see a kid really confused, and we’re just wanting him to be safe,’ Katelyn said, with her husband adding, ‘We hope he’s doing OK.’
Their next door neighbor, Kacey Lochridge, then called Potter’s parents.
‘Thankfully, he remembered his mom’s number, so I was able to call his mom, dad and just let them know what happened, and we told them to go to Sacred Heart, where they were sending him,’ she said, referring to the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Potter’s father, Justin, said it was difficult for him to receive the call.
‘Any parent having to drive to the scene of an accident for one of their kids is really hard to deal with.’
The teenager says he is focused on finding the driver of the other vehicle
Justin is now calling on the driver of the other vehicle to turn himself over to police.
‘Leaving an 18 year old on the side of the road, unconscious, is cowardly,’ he said.
‘I suggest that you turn yourself in and take accountability for your actions.’
Meanwhile, the teenager says he will ‘for sure’ get a dashcam for his next vehicle and ‘would recommend that to anybody.
‘I also want to give thanks to God because this was a pretty severe crash, and I feel like it could’ve gone a lot worse,’ he added.
The Spokane Police Department said they are investigating the incident.