EDMOND, OK — A 22-year-old Edmond motorcyclist is recovering from devastating injuries after a July 4 crash on Route 66, and his family says his survival depended on two strangers who happened to drive by and act fast.
Grant Levescy was riding when an impaired driver crossed the center line and hit him, setting off a chain of injuries that left him fighting for his life. He lost his left arm in the wreck and suffered major damage to his left side, including broken bones from his hip down to his foot.
A benefit ride and raffle are being held this weekend to help with his recovery. Levescy, who is now out of the hospital and rehab after six weeks of treatment, says he is focused on healing, gratitude and getting back to the life he loved before the crash.
How the Route 66 crash unfolded in Edmond
Levescy said he had spent years enjoying motorcycles for the focus and skill they demand, along with the adrenaline they bring. But on July 4, the ride turned catastrophic when another vehicle crossed into his lane on Route 66 in Edmond.
He said the impact tore away his arm and shattered bones throughout the left side of his body. Two other motorcyclists were hurt in the crash as well, and an elderly man in a car later died at a hospital.
Levescy’s injuries were so severe that he says he briefly had no blood in his body and was resuscitated more than once. The crash changed everything in an instant, replacing a holiday ride with a long medical battle and a difficult road back to everyday life.
Dee Hernandez and his son Carlos stop to help
Seconds after the wreck, Dee Hernandez and his son Carlos came upon the scene and immediately pulled over. They first saw a wrecked motorcycle, but not the rider, until they searched farther and found Levescy about 54 feet away on a hill.
Hernandez said the scene was grim. He described severe bleeding, a missing arm and a badly mangled leg. Knowing time mattered, he called to his son, who is a Marine, to help right away.
Carlos used a tourniquet on Levescy’s leg and then adjusted it to help stop bleeding in his arm. Hernandez said Levescy was extremely pale, and he believes the quick response may have prevented even greater blood loss before paramedics arrived.
A family gets the call no parent wants to hear
Paramedics rushed Levescy to OU Health, where his mother, Christa Levescy, received the emergency call that changed her day in an instant. She said being told to get to the hospital within minutes because her son might die was a moment she will never forget.
Levescy remained in the hospital and then a rehabilitation hospital for six weeks. During that time, doctors treated extensive injuries to his left leg, including surgery on his hip, knee, femur, tibia and foot, his mother said.
He lost his arm, but doctors were able to save his leg. For the family, that outcome is tied directly to the fast actions of the strangers who stopped that day and to the medical care that followed.
Why his rescuer says the survival feels like a miracle
Hernandez said seeing Levescy upright and moving now is hard to reconcile with the image he found on the roadside. He said he did not believe Levescy would ever walk again when he first saw him lying injured after the crash.
Christa Levescy said she believes her son is alive because Dee Hernandez and Carlos were in the right place at the right time. In her view, their decision to stop transformed a likely tragedy into a story of survival.
Hernandez called the outcome a miracle, and Levescy agreed that he is alive because of the help he received within moments of the crash. The family has leaned on that belief as they continue through the recovery process.
A benefit ride aims to help with recovery costs
To support Levescy as he continues healing, organizers are holding a benefit ride and raffle this weekend. The event is intended to help ease the financial burden that can follow long hospital stays, rehabilitation and multiple surgeries.
Levescy says he is trying to stay focused on what comes next, including the possibility of getting back on a motorcycle someday. At the same time, he wants other riders to protect themselves with helmets and urges drivers never to get behind the wheel impaired.
He also says the crash has reinforced his faith. For him and his family, the ride and raffle are about more than money; they are part of a larger effort to help a young man rebuild after a life-changing collision.
What Levescy wants other drivers and riders to remember
Levescy says the crash left him with a deeper appreciation for how fragile life can be on the road. He hopes his experience will push others to take safety seriously, whether that means wearing a helmet or making a sober decision before driving.
His message is shaped by the minutes that followed the wreck, when quick thinking from bystanders helped keep him alive until paramedics arrived. He believes those moments should remind everyone that one bad decision behind the wheel can change many lives at once.
As he keeps working toward recovery, Levescy says he is trying to hold on to faith and gratitude. He describes his survival as something he cannot fully explain without crediting the people who stopped and helped when it mattered most.
