Man paralyzed in paragliding accident, then had SUV stolen in Sandy

SANDY — A stolen car is always bad news, but it was even worse news for an SUV owner who also recently suffered a life-changing injury. Jared Potter woke up on Dec. 10 to find his 2016 Toyota 4Runner Limited had vanished.

“We woke up and we noticed my vehicle was stolen from the driveway,” Potter said.

Potter was in disbelief, especially after the past couple of months he’d had.

“It just kind of was like, ‘What the heck’ — Who steals a car from a guy who just got paralyzed?” he said.

Five days earlier, on Oct. 5, Potter was paragliding in the Draper area when he crashed.

“Unfortunately I got myself into a situation that basically led to me getting into an accident,” he said Wednesday during an interview with KSL TV. “That broke my left femur in half as well as led to a spinal cord injury.”

Potter said the current prognosis from his doctors is that he will never walk again. He was just in the process of moving to a more accessible apartment at the time the theft took place.

Potter said his 4Runner has a cargo rack on top and a white TRD skid plate on the bottom with license plate number U397AK. He urged anyone with information on the vehicle’s whereabouts to contact Sandy City Police Department at 801-799-3000.

“I hope karma is going to treat him well after this,” Potter said of the thief.

Friends set up a GoFundMe* account to help Potter with expenses going forward, including transitioning into a new vehicle.

“When it rains, it pours I guess,” Potter said. “I don’t know what else is going to come at me.”

---

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the GoFundMe account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.