ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Some teenagers just trying to do a good deed and help someone in a car crash ended up getting seriously injured themselves. The crash happened just south of the intersection of Tramway and San Rafael on November 5 around 8:30 p.m. The multi-vehicle crash shut down Tramway for about five hours but changed lives forever.
For Alexandra Iversen, life after November 5 will never be the same. “I still really can’t believe it happened. It’s still hard for me to believe when I wake up and I’m like ‘wow it wasn’t a dream, I still don’t have my leg,'” she said.On the night of the fifth, the 17-year-old was in the car with two friends when they noticed a car crash in the median. They pulled over and she, along with one of her friends, went to help.
“It was just like, not really a question. We saw it happen and nobody else had stopped, it looked like he had maybe been there for a little bit. So, of course, if nobody’s helping like, we’re going to go over,” Iversen said.
She let the crash victim, who she says was also around her age, use her phone to call his mom. She called 911 and then said she, her friend, and the person they were helping were hit.
“I know we were waiting, waiting with him for, like, 911 to respond and I think that’s when, like, another car hit us and yeah, that’s about all I remember,” Iversen said.
Iversen woke up in the hospital with serious injuries. Her pelvis was shattered, she had multiple injuries on her left leg, and part of her right leg was amputated.
“I’m not really ok,” Iversen said. “I mean, I lost something that like, I used every day for 17 years and like I’ve played like sports with this, this got me through school and everything. It’s like, it’s literally like a part of me that like I’m missing out.”
She said her friend also got part of his left leg amputated. Iversen said she’s grateful she’s alive but is still working on accepting her new reality.
“I know life isn’t fair but this is just like, extra not fair, you know. I go to help somebody and like this is what I get kind of,” Iversen said. “I’m trying to stay positive too because I want to move on and get back into my life and heal from this.”
Iversen has one message she wants to share. “If the person driving would’ve just paid more attention, they could’ve slowed down and not hit me and basically like almost taken me and two others’ lives. So, just be safe driving,” Iversen said.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crashes. The Iversen family is also considering legal action against the driver that hit Alexandra.
Alexandra’s friends and family are raising money to help with medical bills for the three teenagers injured in the incident. A GoFundMe has been set up for Alexandra Iversen. There is also a GoFundMe for Alexandra’s friend who also had a leg amputated. There is also a GoFundMe for the young man who was in the original car crash. A donation page is also on Facebook where all the money will be split between the three individuals injured.