RIVERTON, Utah — A little over a week ago, Annie Stagg was in a golf cart in Mexico with her husband, alongside her best friend Kerrie Olsen and Kerrie's husband Paul.
“We were just driving around talking and laughing and just reminiscing,” Stagg said. "Next thing you know, we're in hell.”
The golf cart tipped over, and Kerrie hit her head, suffering a brain injury.
“Kerrie is my best friend,” Stagg said through tears. "I had to leave the scene to go find help for us, and I didn't know if I'd see her again.”
Clinton Poduska and his wife were one of the other couples on the trip and ended up finding them.
“Some other friends on another golf cart that we happened to pass, and they said, 'Hey, we got a phone call that they had tipped over,'” he said. "It's just things you never want to see your loved ones go through, the torture that was in Paul's eyes and trying to care for his wife — just devastating.”
Kerrie was rushed to the hospital in Mexico and has been there ever since.
That’s when the CrossFit community back at home in Utah started to rally.
“We always say that Kerrie and Paul do so much to take care of everyone else. It's our turn to take care of them,” said Sicily Romano-Nelson, a coach at Skol CrossFit in Riverton, which Kerrie and Paul own.
“She's got three kids back here. They need her,” Romano-Nelson said. "We as a community, we do need her. She means so much. This community is what it is because of her.”
Kerrie is currently partially sedated but still has a long road to recovery. She also cannot come home until the hospital bills are paid, which are racking up every day.
“Healing in Mexico is a little bit different. Right now, Paul is only allowed in the room for, like, anywhere from an hour to two hours a day, and then the rest of the time, he literally is looking through a crack in the door into the room at his wife,” Romano-Nelson said.
The CrossFit community has started a GoFundMe and even planned fundraisers, waiting for the day they can welcome Kerrie home.
“This can happen to anybody,” Stagg said through tears. "I never, ever, ever thought... we're not reckless people. We're so cautious, and Kerrie is such sunshine and the first one to help anybody. And I just, I just need her home and I need her okay."
Stagg also suffered from four fractured ribs and a punctured lung.
They're also organizing a fundraiser event, "Kilometers for Kerrie."
