Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Parker Smith lived through one of his worst nightmares on the morning of Feb. 12 when responding to a vehicle crash to discover it involved his wife Aby, 4-year-old son PJ and 2-year-old Christian, who were broadsided by a snowplow while riding in their family minivan.
Aby and PJ were treated for minor injuries, but Christian was nearly killed and remains hospitalized at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, where he’s being treated for a collapsed lung, and fractured ribs, jaw and skull.
After an initial period of touch-and-go intensive care treatment, Christian’s health began to improve. Now, five weeks after the accident, he’s showing hopeful signs of improvement, according to a statement from Trooper Smith, as well as law enforcement colleagues who spoke with Cowboy State Daily.
How Is 2-year-old Christian Now?
Smith and the Wyoming Highway Patrol Association are keeping the public updated on Christian’s progress. Though seemingly small, every inch of improvement feels to the Smith family like clearing a high hurdle.
“When Christian first woke up [from medical sedation] he was not really comprehending anything around him, he was more or less just looking around with a blank stare,” Smith posted to Facebook. “But very quickly he started nodding his head for yes and no.
“Then soon came the words like ‘Mom,’ ‘Dad,’ ‘PJ.’ After about 2 weeks I went to give him knuckles and he lifted his left arm and gave me a fist bump. That was the first time I felt like I could breathe again!”
Christian was recently moved from intensive care into rehab, where he’s undergoing around five hours of physical therapy daily, learning again how to eat, drink and talk.
Trooper Jarred Biggs corresponds with Smith daily, and told Cowboy State Daily there’s been hopeful evidence of improvement in recent days.
“[Smith] sent me a video where he had a little ball in his hands, and he asked Christian to kick it,” Biggs said. “He was still for a while, but all of a sudden, his leg raises up and he kicks the ball.
“I know that would seem like such a small thing in any other context. But it really brought me joy seeing that, and I can’t even imagine how big that moment felt for them, just seeing that he's able to just do those minor things.”
Not Your Average Cop
Biggs and other colleagues describe Trooper Smith as a positive person who brings warmth to enforcement and gives back to his community.
He’s the first in line for volunteer events, including public safety presentations at local schools, and the Shop with a Cop fundraiser for underprivileged kids.
He’s the type of lawman who can make people smile even after handing them a citation, said Biggs, who served as Smith’s field training officer.
“People have a certain expectation when it comes to interaction with law enforcement, especially traffic stops. But he really surprises people with how cheerful and upbeat he handles enforcement,” said Biggs, who's known Smith for nine years.
Smith carries a box of toys and trinkets in his patrol car for the times he encounters a young family on a traffic stop. As a reward for buckling up, he’ll pass the kids a parting token through the window.
“He just wanted to give something good to give the kids. That was pretty great because it's not like he had access to grant funding to do it. He paid [for the toys himself]. Those interactions are a part of the job he really enjoys,” Biggs said.
In addition to his direct responsibility with WHP, Smith has also been a dependable hand for other agencies. In the line of duty, officers sometimes receive calls to assist other agencies, known as AOAs. For example, a medical responder might solicit support from law enforcement.
Because AOAs fall outside a trooper’s immediate purview, they are left to the discretion of officers. But for Trooper Smith, there was never hesitation.
“He's been well known for helping on AOAs. He hears a call, and regardless of what it is he'll go out and help,” said Bigg.
In one case, he responded to an ambulance request on an incident involving a person who was badly cut by glass. Smith arrived on scene and quickly stopped the bleeding with a tourniquet – ten minutes before the ambulance got there, according to Biggs.
After paying it forward as a public servant, it’s now Smith who’s calling for help. The community is stepping up to assist.
“To say that they’re a well-supported family may be understating it. Everybody came out in spades when they had heard what happened, and we’re all helping plan to get ahead of all of their needs,” Biggs said.
Trooper Smith said community support has been vital in making it through the tragedy.
“I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for my little Christian. It is clear God has been hearing our prayers! Also the donations have just been so helpful we literally couldn’t do it without you,” Smith said on the Wyoming Highway Patrol Association Facebook page.
The van the family of Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Parker Smith was in when it was hit by a snowplow. (Courtesy Garrett Davis) 
The van the family of Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Parker Smith was in when it was hit by a snowplow. (Courtesy Garrett Davis)
Psychological Toll On All Officers
The incident jolted the law enforcement community and continues to hang uneasily in the minds of first responders with families of their own.
Captain Shawn Dickerson, who serves WHP District 2 where the Smith family accident occurred, told Cowboy State Daily that incidents involving small children have compounding psychological impacts.
“When children are injured in some way, harmed or deceased, those are the most difficult scenes and the ones that we dread the most. As a supervisor, I worry about my troopers the most after they've been involved in a scene like that. They see that and they imagine their own child there. It definitely takes a psychological toll, and it’s compounding over the course of a career,” Dickerson said.
“In these circumstances, having been his own child, it's devastating. It’s a nightmare scenario.”
Biggs expressed it similarly.
“I know for everyone in law enforcement, especially if you're a trooper, that's really the worst scenario, coming to the scene of your family's crash.”
Trooper Smith is staying with Christian in Denver and has not returned to work.
He is being supported through the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which ensures paid time for six weeks and guarantees his position is held for 12 weeks. After that, he will likely begin tapping paid time off and accrued vacation, Dickerson said.
