The family of a Salt Lake firefighter who was seriously injured in a wrong-way accident spoke out

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City firefighter was seriously injured after a wrong-way accident earlier this month he is already out of the hospital.

John Maxwell, Andy Maxwell’s father, said his son was discharged two days ago and is currently recovering at his sister’s home.

John says his son, a father of three, was staying with his family at their cottage in Duck Creek for fall break.

“Andy and his family were basically going to spend the winter in this cabin,” John said. “So the kids went down so that his kids and all of them could spend some time together before winter because they wouldn’t be able to see each other all winter.”

On October 17, Andy was driving north on I-15 when a Toyota Corolla going the wrong way hit his Dodge truck head-on. The 55-year-old driver of the Corolla died.

“It was around 5 p.m. It was already dark and then the accident happened,” John said.

In the car with Andy at the time were his 15-year-old niece Lila Love, 8-year-old niece Gracie and 10-year-old nephew Liam.

“Andy has a long recovery ahead of him, so we’re dealing with that. Gracie, his niece, is still at Primary Children’s Hospital. She will also undergo a long rehabilitation,” John said.

He says Lila is fine because she suffered minor injuries from the airbag.

John said Andy has had four surgeries so far. As a result of the accident, he suffered a number of injuries, including three spine fractures.

Liam died in an accident.

“We have known these kids all our lives and knowing that we will have more family gatherings without Liam is just hard,” John said. “Everyone had their seatbelts on and that’s what saved everyone except Liam… It was a bit of a bad place and bad time for him.”

On Wednesday, John told FOX 13 News that Andy will likely be in a wheelchair for three or four months and may have to learn to walk again. He added that it could be a year before Andy can return to work.

“When the fire department found out what happened, they took immediate action,” John said. “They helped with all sorts of things. Andy’s cabin had to be winterized – there were 14 firefighters who helped us winterize it.”

A lot of support came from the fraternity Andy started when he worked at the Salt Lake City Fire Department.

“I retired after 31 years in public safety, and Andy just completed 20 years,” John said.

John says both families are working together to get through this.

“We will all get through this together. We all rely on each other,” he said.

A GoFundMe has been set up for Andy and his family and can be found here HERE.

Another GoFundMe has been created for the Love family HERE.