Breaking: Trevor is 17 & a senior @ Hurricane High School, he was in a horrible dirt bike accident on Sunday evening and is … See more

Hurricane High School senior Trevor Higgins, 17, is currently receiving care in St. George Regional Hospital for critical injuries he endured on Sunday, Oct. 27, when he collided with a car while riding home on his dirt bike, as previously reported by St. George News. There have been some updates on his condition since the collision occurred. However, as of Halloween night, he still had not regained consciousness.

In addition to raising money for the teen and his family, Higgins’ friends are also trying to raise awareness in light of the high number of recent crashes.

‘We just wanted to ride home’

Higgins’ friend Rylee Altena, currently a sophomore at Utah Tech University, was with Higgins at the time of the crash. The two of them met several years ago at an auto shop class at Hurricane High School, and she said they still ride bikes together “a lot.” On Sunday, Oct. 27, they were both riding dirt bikes while two of their friends, Charger Jones and Altena’s brother Brodie, were following behind in trucks.

“We had just finished riding in Purple Hills and were going home,” Altena told St. George News, adding, “We usually just ride in the desert and just truck our bikes out there, but we just wanted to ride home because it was close, and then that’s when it went south.”

Altena said Higgins was riding directly in front of her as they rode through Hurricane. Then, she said, a car on the right side of the road crossed over to make a U-turn, cutting in front of Higgins. Altena said that all Higgins could do was hit the brake hard. But it was too late

“I thought he’d stopped in time,” she remembered. She said Higgins crashed straight into the car, head-on, sending the back tire of his bike “up in the air.” His bike pressed him against the side of the car before he fell down with the bike on top of him.

Altena said the people who were in the car then came out and called 911 while she ran to check on Higgins.

“I threw my bike off to the side and ran up to him,” she recalled.

Altena said Higgins’ breathing sounded “raspy,” so she unclipped his helmet to try to give him more breathing room. She said someone who said he was an experienced first responder happened to be driving on the road right behind them. This man came out of his vehicle and removed Higgins’ helmet and had Jones and Altena’s brother carefully lift the bike off of Higgins, since he was “all tangled up in it.” Soon afterward, an ambulance arrived.

Higgins’ recuperation will reportedly require multiple costly surgeries and other medical procedures. Sometime after he was transported to the hospital, Charger Jones’ mother, Heather Jones, set up a GoFundMe page to collect donations and help Higgins’ family pay off inevitable medical expenses. The presumptive goal is currently $20,000, but Altena said the total cost of the expenses is “definitely going to be more than that.”

“We’re just trying to raise anything,” she said. “We’re going to start making shirts and stickers and selling those to raise money, too.” There is also an Instagram page providing updates on Higgins’ condition and links to places where donations can be made.

She and several others are planning to do a fundraising event in Hurricane “sometime soon,” where they will “get a whole bunch of cars and bikes together” and drive down Main Street in Hurricane. But they are not yet sure when it will take place.

They also hope the hashtag “rev4trev” spreads in order to promote safety for motorcycles and the GoFundMe page, and they are encouraging people to post about it. “So like, (they could) take a video of them revving their engine and then put that on their story or post it and then also tag the GoFundMe to spread that, and then also awareness (to) watch out for bikes,” Altena said.

As they wait to see what the future holds, Higgins’ friends are being proactive to support his family and to make the community aware of a cause they believe in. “We just want people to look out for them,” Altena said of her fellow bike riders. “So, that’s why we’re doing all this, to raise money and just raise awareness.”

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