A Nampa man who was run over while helping a neighbor stuck in a snow bank is now back home with his family after several surgeries and 32 days in the hospital.
"Everybody has told me that it's a miracle honestly that I'm here, and I agree," Ben Felty said. "I couldn't be here on my own."
Late one January night, Ben was heading into town when he saw a man stuck in a snow bank just down the road from their home so he stopped to lend a helping hand.
"I remember helping getting his truck unstuck and then trying to take the tow strap off," Felty said.
The next thing he knew it was two weeks later and he was waking up in a hospital bed.
"I just remember being like, 'Oh wow! I was asleep for a while!'" Felty laughed.
His wife, Jonica, spent every day at the hospital by his side and when he woke up, Ben learned the extent of his injuries.
His wife informed him his torso was run over by the man he stopped to help.
"I was shocked," Felty said. "I was blown away all that had happened."
Ben says he vaguely remembers yelling, "He ran me over!" in the moments immediately following the incident.
Felty underwent three separate surgeries. Doctors at Saint Alphonsus operated on his diaphragm and secured a steel rod into his back.
"Like all my ribs were broken except for four, so they had to put screws in those and put them back together," Felty said.
But for the man charged with running Ben over, the Feltys have found forgiveness and are encouraging others to do the same.
"I've forgiven him for this. We all make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. And we all deserve forgiveness I think," Felty said.
Ben still deals with pain but is glad to be home with his wife and three children.
The family is hoping to find a single-story home nearby where Ben won't have to walk up and down stairs.
For now though, they're taking things one day at a time, focusing on rest, relaxation and spending time together as a family.
