Bradley told SI that last January, just before exiting a roundabout near his home in St. George, Utah, he was struck by a Dodge minivan, whose driver was “hustling to pick up her child from school,” in the words of the story’s writer Brian Burnsed. Writes Burnsed of the crash: “Bradley tumbled over the trunk and the driver’s side of the Saturn, and he landed headfirst on the asphalt, his helmet cracking under his 300-odd pounds. Police say the driver continued on but returned to the scene later. Never charged with a crime, she says she gave Bradley enough room when passing him.) Confused but conscious after the spill, splayed on the ground and gazing up at a crystalline sky,
Bradley says he went through a mental checklist. He couldn’t move his arms or his legs. He couldn’t sit up. He had no control over his breathing, which soon grew labored. Only his eyes heeded his commands. Am I going to suffocate? he asked himself. Am I going to die slowly?”