Brandon man chooses to forgive, focus on recovering from severe car-motorcycle accident

Jill Meier

Journal editor

In a split second, Chase Hoffman’s life was turned upside down. Miraculously, the Brandon husband and father is here today to tell his story. And to recover and live life to the fullest once again.

Hoffman’s life was changed about 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 18, while riding his motorcycle to a nephew’s football game at the Sanford Complex in Sioux Falls. He had just turned off of Interstate 29 onto Benson Road near Fleet Farm. He took notice of a red minivan, thinking it was going to cut him off. So, he chose to speed up at the same time the driver of the mini-van chose to make an illegal U-turn.

“When you’re riding motorcycle, you’re always watching out, , trying to ride as safe as possible. When I saw him pulling out, I just thought they were going to cut me off, because it goes from two lanes into a merge lane,” Hoffman said. “I never considered the U-turn to be what happened, and they hit me on the right side with their car. The next thing I remember, I was just bouncing and rolling on the road. I kind of bobbled, I tipped over, and the bike landed on my leg, and I just started rolling, and the bike slid off into the ditch.”

Unbelievably so, Hoffman remained conscious the entire time following the crash, even after his head hit the pavement multiple times.

“Thankfully, I was wearing my helmet. I remember hearing my head hit the ground, but then I just started just rolling really fast. I kind of remember just thinking, how long is this going to last? Because I just kept rolling and rolling, and then then I just kind of slid to a stop,” he tells.

Within seconds, several people came to his rescue.

“I saw a lady running out from behind Scooters,” he said. “I’ve seen surveillance video since then, and she just whipped forward, pulled up, stopped and jumped out of her car. She was yelling back at the people that were working to call 911. “

She immediately began talking to him – are you conscious, are you awake, don’t move.

“I think I went blank at that point, because the next thing I remember is theres a guy down on all fours looking at me. All I see is this guy with blue eyes. He’s like, ‘Chase,I’m in the military. I’ve got combat experience. I’ve seen this kind of injury before, and you’re going to be just fine,’” he told him. 

In the background, he heard someone else talking to 911, confirming that he was awake and had a partially dismembered leg.

“The guy in military says, ‘Don’t listen to her, and don’t listen to what they’re saying,’” he said.

More people came to assist – a nurse and a retired cop, too.

He looks at all of them as “angels of mercy.”

“That’s kind of been our theme is that there’s been miracles from the go. The fact that all those people are in the same place, same time, responding to my accident, within seconds were the first people on scene. That’s miraculous, right?” he asks. “To me, it’s like God went up before me, prepared this situation, and had everything in place for this. There’s no question in my mind this is all happening for a reason. It kind of puts me at peace a little bit.” 

All the while Chase is being tended to, Ashley, his wife, is waiting patiently on the sidelines of her nephew’s football game. As it turns out, while complete strangers were helping Chase, he directed them to call his wife.

“I was at the Sanford Complex about a half a mile away, and I could nearly see where the accident took place. I had told Chase to call me when he got to the fields, because I needed him to get something out of my car for Finley, and I didn’t want to walk all the way to go get it. I got a call from his phone about the time that he should have arrived, and so I’m sure I answered it like, ‘Hey, where are you?’ A woman was on the phone, and she goes, ‘Ashley, I need you to remain calm, breathe. Chase was in an accident. His leg is pretty messed up, but he’s alive. He’s OK. The ambulance is on its way. He has not lost consciousness,’” Ashley tells.

As she took in what the woman was telling her, Ashley said her world went black.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said to her sisters and mother. “I just remember putting the phone down, ‘Oh, my gosh. Chase was in an accident. We have to go.’”

Ashley and her mom, Nancy, arrived at the scene about the same time as the EMTs.

“His leg was completely flipped around. I saw the bottom of his shoe from the top of his head like I was looking down at him and I could see the treads on the bottom of his shoe. His foot was that turned,” Ashley said.

The citizen responders put the first of three tourniquets on Chase. The retired cop ripped his shirt off to tie the initial one, and they whipped out his belt for the second tourniquet all to stop the bleeding. They also recorded the time of day the tourniquets were placed.

“They were triaging,” Chase said.

 “In my head, I’m like, ‘Is that time of death?’” he said. “I’ve seen the movies, when they start writing on you, that’s not good.”

While his life was spared, the injuries to his right leg are extensive.

“Multiple compound fractures. Actually, my tibia broke in like four or five places. There was some bone missing already right there on scene. It was pretty much like my leg exploded in a way,” Chase said.

Ashley feared they wouldn’t be able to save his leg. 

“At first, they were like, yeah, he’s not keeping his leg. The trauma surgeon went in and the I think the first thing they did was they actually straightened my leg out and got it braced just because there was no bone connecting my knee to my foot,” Chase said.

The Hoffmans are grateful for the immediate response Chase received on scene.

“We’re just thankful for the people, from the first responders to the people that were there. I’ve had the military guy, Brent, reacheout to me since the accident. The paramedic who was with me when I was in the ambulance sent me in a message saying, ‘Hey, I don’t usually follow these stories, but for whatever reason, yours is inspiring, and I’ve paid attention to your situation.’ Those are people that I remember that were there, The very first person, she came and visited, and she’s from Shakopee, Minn. And the person who called 911 that was on the phone with 911 until the EMTs got there, has also reached. I mean, it’s amazing that all these people that were there and all the people that have followed up are all believers in Christ, and that’s not an accident,” Chase said.

Chase is a man of faith, as so is his family.

“We’re leaning into the fact that something good can come from this. And whatever that is, we’re 100 percent on board. We just want to bring glory to God in this situation.”

So far, Chase has endured four surgeries. 

It would be fair to say that man y people would be angry at the person who hit him, but Chase isn’t.

“I forgave the guy probably like the next day I was like, you know what? My energy needs to be focused on getting better,” he said. “I just had the state’s attorney call me today, asking what do you want to happen? They’re like, here’s what maximum sentence for this guy could be. And as a victim, we take into account the victim’s opinion. … I didn’t really want to say give him the maximum, because that’s not where my where my heart’s at on the issue. I’m not angry, I can’t explain it. Maybe that’s my coping mechanism, in a sense.”

Personally, he does not want to see a plea deal.

Ashley, however, has a different view, and is considering writing a letter to express what she’s feeling. The driver is a repeat offender, has a criminal history, no driver’s license, and unfortunately, is uninsured.

“I’m kind of, I’m kind of the same boat. I don’t really want him to walk away scott-free,” she said. “Is a plea deal going to continue the same thing?”

Chase simply asks drivers to follow the rules of the road.

“I want something good to come out of this. If I have to go through this, then something good should come from it, and we’re fully invested in whatever that is. Maybe there’s something we can do about that intersection … a stoplight, a simple blinking stoplight would make it way better,” he suggests.

Their daughter Finley was also emotionally distraught seeing her dad in the hospital.

“She’s a Daddy’s Girl,” Ashley confirms.

They\ Hoffman’s recently took the training wheels off of their Finley’s bike.

“As we were coaching her, we told her if you’re going to fall, fall into the grass. And so her response was so innocent, like ‘Daddy, you should have fallen into the grass and out of the road,’” Ashley shares.

Chase said he will climb aboard a motorcycle again someday. It may not be hi8s own bike, but as long as doctors give him the greenlight to do so, he’s wants to feel the breeze on face once again. 

“When we got together, he had the bike, he had the sports car and he had the truck, those were prerequisites to our relationship. So, we had a deal, if you ride a motorcycle, you’ve got to wear a helmet. You’ve got to have a good helmet,” Ashley said. “A couple years ago, we bought his helmet, and it obviously saved his life. If you spend a little more on quality helmet, and the impact is substantial when it comes to an accident, it’s worth it.”

This Saturday, a Poker Run benefit is being held to help the family with medical expenses. Registration begins at 10 a.m. at Bottoms Up, 25989 482nd Ave., Corson, and the ride departs at 11 a.m. All bikes and vehicles are welcome. There is a $10 fee per rider and per poker hand. There will also be a silent auction.

To register, contact Nakita at (605) 360-1138 or Katie at (605) 595-2350.