‘Nothing I could do’: Motorcyclist speaks out about Bluffton crash that killed his wife
The last thing Patrick DeWitt remembers about the motorcycle collision is being transported from U.S. 278 by helicopter and asking emergency responders if his wife was OK.
They did not answer him.
By the time he woke up 2 1/2 weeks later, his whole life had changed.
DeWitt lost his left leg.
His right leg and left arm were crushed and had to be reinforced with titanium plating.
“My right arm was the only limb that wasn’t damaged,” said DeWitt.
“And I’m left-handed,” he joked.
He said he is trying to focus on the positive, though he faces months of recovery and physical therapy. There are also mounting medical bills.
DeWitt says he can deal with all of that.
Losing his wife, Barbara, he said, is the most painful injury he has to bear.
“To not have her (while) going through this is horrible. I’d rather me be going through what I’m going through than her,” said DeWitt. “At least she’s at peace and she doesn’t have to suffer the pain.”
“All these injuries, all the rehab, all the learning to walk again, I can deal with all that,” he said through tears.
“Not waking up next to her every morning — I don’t know.”
‘There was nothing I could do’
March 1 was a Sunday, and the DeWitts were returning from a charity event in Georgia put on by the Iron Order, the motorcycle club Patrick is a part of.
The couple lived in an apartment on Hilton Head Island and were headed home after a long weekend. They planned to stop at Walmart on Hilton Head to pick up something for dinner.
Barbara was holding on to him as he drove his Harley Davidson along U.S. 278 toward the island.
Just as they passed Rose Hill Plantation in Bluffton, DeWitt said his wife “wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me real tight and gave me a kiss and said ‘I love you so much.””
“I was able to lean back and tell her, ‘Baby, I love you, too,’” he said.
“And then we were hit.”
A Chevrolet truck, traveling west on 278, drove off the left side of the road, crossed the median and hit their eastbound Harley, according to S.C. Highway Patrol.
The agency is still investigating the collision. No criminal charges have been filed.
SCHP did disclose a few days later that the truck driver passed initial sobriety tests. No breathalyzer or blood tests were given at the time.
DeWitt says he remembers the crash in great detail.
“I just remember the front wheels coming up and into our lane, and there was nothing I could do,” he said. “I remember my hands on the bars just crushing into his fender.”
He estimates there was approximately eight seconds to make a decision on what to do.
“I slammed on the brakes. I knew we were hitting,” said DeWitt. “I threw my body on the left side to try to cushion my body between the truck and her.
“It just wasn’t enough.”
Both were transported to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.
Barbara DeWitt was pronounced dead, according to authorities.
Medical bills stack up
DeWitt’s life and livelihood have changed drastically.
He used to work as a truck driver for Cleland Site Prep, a Bluffton construction company. He was forced to leave the job after the crash.
After he learns how to walk again and gets a prosthetic leg, DeWitt hopes to return by January to driving a truck.
The financial cost of his recovery is steep.
To get the kind of prosthetic suitable for commercial truck driving, DeWitt said he must pay $20,000 to $30,000.
So far, his medical bills are $500,000, he said. Of that amount, DeWitt said he currently owes between $150,000 and $275,000.
DeWitt and his friend have set up a GoFundMe page to help his recovery and to pay the bills he can’t while he’s recuperating.
“I didnt set up the GoFundMe to get rich. Nobody owes me anything,” he said. “I just need to survive.”
In remembrance
Barbara DeWitt was 49 when she died.
She grew up in Hampton, S.C., and worked as a security guard for years before switching careers to work in healthcare at Evicore in Bluffton.
Home was the apartment at Hilton Head Beach and Tennis she shared with husband Patrick.
“She possessed a love for the beach and her family, and she will always be remembered as the best mom in the world,” reads an online obituary.
She had one son from a previous marriage.
Patrick DeWitt says he most misses her smile and her kind spirit.
“She would give you her last dollar if you really needed it. She would give you the last bite of her sandwich or the whole thing if you needed it,” said DeWitt.
“She was the brightest light of my life.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 2:31 PM.
