NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – A newly engaged Tennessee couple on their way to a birthday party had their lives flash before their eyes after a highway accident.

Malia Duarte and her fiance Austin headed to her father’s 50th birthday party in Alabama at the end of October.

On the way, they say a tire flew off a trailer and hit their car head-on.

While the couple and their dog, Oreo, survived the crash, Austin suffered a traumatic brain injury and was taken to UAB Hospital in Birmingham.

Two weeks later, he is thankfully on the mend, closer to family in his hometown of Nashville.

“So grateful,” Malia said. “I was so scared that night that I was going to lose him.”

He will receive facial surgery and physical therapy at Vanderbilt before returning home to Knoxville.

But his wife-to-be has a message for that driver.

“If they just see it and they can take the extra time to look at their equipment, check it before they go on the road and (and) have the right installers if they know they just got a new install,” Malia said. what she hopes.

“It’s money you don’t want to spend, nobody wants to spend, but it really makes a difference and you don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it happens to you.”

If you would like to financially support Austin and Malia, you can visit them GoFundMe.

Do you have more information on this story? You can email me at [email protected].

She is wearing her husband’s legacy to raise money for Alzheimer’s research

I am so inspired by Sheila Gann’s love for her husband and her resilience. Anyone who has lost a loved one to Alzheimer’s knows how cruel this disease is – not only to the patient, but also to those who love and care for them. Mike and Sheila clearly had a remarkable love story, and she is now honoring it in the most beautiful way. Thanks to Forrest Sanders for sharing his story with us.

-Carrie Sharp