Help Marcela recover from injuries and the death of 2 horses

On Monday, June 17th, my niece Isabelle(14) and sister in law Marcela (44) were hit by a car while riding their horses. Both of their horses were killed, Marcela’s knee was shattered and will require multiple surgeries. Isabelle was also hurt but fortunately not seriously. Marcela has been in the hospital since that night, and may have to go to in-patient rehab afterwards. She is unable to work and they are both traumatized from this accident. It has been a rough few years for their family, as Marcela and Owen also lost their son, Nathan ,in February 2022 and their horses were their solace. Please read her story from Facebook, Marcela De Vivo, and consider donating and sharing. Thank you.

Everyone has been asking me what happened, how could something like this happen? Here’s what happened.

We left my house around 7:15 pm for a trail ride. During the summer, most days we start riding at 7 pm to avoid the horses getting overheated.

There were 6 of us who went out. We rode on the horse trails on Sand canyon installed by the city, and stayed on the trails until it was time to cross the street from Sand Canyon to Iron Canyon so we could get home.

I was the first to cross, and I saw the car when he was a tiny spot in the horizon, as far as Ruth’s Spring. Then he sped up and was likely going much faster than the 45mph posted speed limit. I was acting as the crossing guard in the middle of the street. 3 horses had passed, but two more were still

crossing as he continued his approach. Then I realized he wasn’t going to stop and that he was coming in extremely fast. Within a split second, I yelled to the group to run and turned Norma Jean broadside, assuming I’d be able to absorb most of the impact to shield the others behind me from the oncoming car. I believe that split second decision is what saved mine and Izzy’s life, but resulted in the sacrifice of Norma Jeans life.

Norma Jean saw the car coming towards us but was the most noble, brave horse on the planet to follow my lead and help me save the horses and riders behind us. She didn’t spook and run. She stayed calm and sacrificed herself. It was her death who saved us all.

The driver never slowed down at all. He was going so fast that the impact sent me flying about 10 ft in the air and I landed by the bridge. My knee absorbed the impact of the car and broke immediately. After hitting me, the car kept moving forward and hit the next horse, Husband, breaking his legs. Izzy was riding Husband and was also flung in the air out of her saddle. Fortunately, the velocity of the car had slowed significantly due to the impact with Norma Jean and Husband was so tall that the car never touched Izzy. She had several small injuries and lacerations from getting flung in the air and landing pretty hard.

If the driver had actually looked up at any time,

I believe he would’ve seen a group of 6 horses and riders. It was dusk, not dark, and there was still lots of light. He never swerved or slowed down to avoid us. He kept driving straight and fast as if we were bowling pins that he was trying to knock down.

I heard people calling 911 within a few moments, but it took first responders about 20 minutes to get there. Apparently there had been a murder in Canyon Country and many of the policemen were there, while local firefighters were fighting the Gorman fire.

Even though Norma Jean died immediately, Husband was still alive but the bones in both of his front legs were broken. Dr Rachel, a wonderful vet who lives nearby, arrived at the scene very quickly to check him out, but realized she couldn’t save his life so she had to help him over the rainbow bridge.

The driver got out of the car and was running away from the scene, but one of the riders that was with me saw him running from the scene and told him to stay. I never saw him, as I was laying on the street and unable to move since the bone on my knees

was sticking out.

The police let the driver go. I was never questioned. The police questioned the kids who were hysterical, and my husband when he arrived who was just piecing information together. I was never asked to give a statement. In some of the news pieces, they identified me as the driver for some reason. There is a video of me being lifted into the ambulance and screaming from pain, shock, fear and loss. The knee cap was a compound fracture and exposed, so it hurt terribly when I was moved into the ambulance. And when I was lifted and saw Norma Jean’s dead body, I was inconsolable.

I’ve been at Henry Mayo Hospital since the accident. They repaired the knee but couldn’t put it all back together. They’re doing another surgery today, plus I will need a skin graft as apparently I lost a lot of skin when I landed so there is not enough skin to cover the knee.

I am devastated, in deep shock, and terribly traumatized. My horses are family. Norma Jean had been through so much ; I was starting to see her happy and becoming more confident by the day. And Husband, oh Husband. He was the one horse here that EVERYONE loved. He was the sweetest, happy go lucky, kindest soul you’d ever met.

Their loss hurts so very deeply, I don’t know how to recover from all of this. Every time I close my eyes, I see that car running into me, hear the thunderous crash, hear my daughter’s hysterical screams as she saw her mama go flying through the air and her horses’s bones sticking out. It still feels like a nightmare, but when do I get to wake up?!