ALTARA ELEMENTARY TEACHER BATTLES INJURIES TO RETURN TO TEACHING STUDENTS

Heather Sullivan taught Ari

Peterson’s brother in second grade at Altara Elementary and after learning she also would have her as her teacher, Ari was looking forward to “doing all the fun things he did with her.”

Instead, she and her classmates learned different news.

“We learned Mrs. Sullivan was in a car accident with her whole family,” Ari said. “It was really sad.”

Classmate Zoey Allan remembers learning about it too.

“We didn’t know if she could even come teach us this year,” she said.

That’s because Sullivan didn’t know herself.

“We told them the truth that I was in a serious accident and didn’t know how long it would take to recover,” she said. “I was told I would never walk again.”

Sullivan was the driver of a 2022 Toyota Sienna rental packed with her husband, three children and her spry 82-year-old mother, a former Sandy

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

elementary teacher. This past July, they were headed to go river rafting near Durango, Colorado.

It had just started to rain.

Other than glancing at her husband, Phil, seconds before getting hit head-on, that is all she remembers. A car traveling westbound hydroplaned near Soldier Summit on Highway 6 and hit their vehicle and then a second vehicle hit the minivan from behind.

“I firmly believe that God told me to turn and just look at Phil and Phil looked at me. Then it was just the loudest noise I’ve ever heard. The car was like a tin can and just crunched up,” Sullivan said. “We were on this family vacation, our one trip all sum-

Continued page 5

Altara second-grade teacher Heather Sullivan dances with her students after she returned to school; she is still recovering from life-threatening injuries sustained in a multiple car accident. (Julie Slama/ City Journals)

“Dozens of doctors told me that there was nothing more that they could do to expect to be in a wheel chair. I went from the top 1% in the army Special Forces to being in so much pain that I could not tie my shoe or hold my new daughter. I did physical therapy and pain killers for years, but nothing worked. Finally, I went to Dr. Smith and I improved exactly as he told me I would. I couldn’t believe it! My wife cried, “I have my husband back.”

—Steve M., Army Special Forces

D.C. CSCS

Physician