East Coast band crashes into semi on tour stop in Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY — An East Coast band performing in Salt Lake City landed in the hospital after crashing into a semitruck while on tour. It happened along Interstate 80 as they were traveling to their next show in Colorado Springs.

Year of the Knife band member Brandon Watkins said he never imagined a summer tour would land his bandmates in the hospital.

“Every time I see (the van), I think that we should have died. When I look at the pictures of that, it’s just unimaginable that we lived,” Watkins said.

The driver and passenger of the tour van — brothers and fellow band members, Andy and Aaron Kisielewski — were sent to the hospital with broken bones. Watkins sustained a concussion from the accident, but his wife and band singer Madi suffered the worst of the injuries.

“She has brain bruising, severe brain trauma,” Watkins said. “She broke her femur. She broke her ankle.”

Doctors are hopeful she will recover from her extensive injuries in a couple of weeks to months. Her husband and the entire band remain optimistic that she will once again get on stage.

“Eventually, she will come back to us, it’s just going to take time,” Watkins said.

After this life-changing incident, Watkins has a message for all drivers headed out on the road this summer. 

“Just, you know, take your time, and make sure that you are paying attention to your surroundings,” he said.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe* campaign to help with medical expenses for everyone involved.