Wednesday, March 9, 2011

KSL interview with Bryce and Shannon



SALT LAKE CITY -- A man crashed his car into a Salt Lake City home Sunday, and then ran from officers. He was arrested a short time later. The family who lives in that home says the incident adds to an already challenging year.

Albino Gabriel Juak, 20, has a history of running from the law just like he did over the weekend. His rap sheet includes drug-related charges going back to 2009.

Police say Juak's reckless driving sent 31-year-old Curtis Howard to the hospital.

"The car coming through the front yard like that, kinda rockin' the world. It's like, you know, no way! All at the same time," Howard said.

Doctors diagnosed Howard with stage 4 colon cancer back in December and Sunday's incident was just one more thing to deal with.

The car came careening down the street, hit a parked Honda, and then hit a tree. That catapulted Juak's vehicle on top of a Toyota Corolla and Jaguar here. It also hit the house.

"A lot of us were hurt a little bit. But to hit him, after everything he's been through, it's just unbelievable that that would even happen, that we would all be in the yard at that time," said Shannon Howard, Curtis Howard's wife.

Along with his cancer treatments, doctors put seven staples in the back of Howard's head. Now he deals with headaches, body aches, and struggles to forgive the man who he says has added to his problems.

"(I'm) pretty pissed off, you know. He had to have known that he hit people. There were five people out in the front yard. He had to have known he hit me," Curtis Howard said.

His mother-in-law, Sharon Paro, saw the whole incident. She says she hopes what happened to her family can help Juak turn his life around

"I would love to talk to him and get more information. You know, learn a little bit of history," Paro said. "I'm sure he's got issues as well."

Police booked Juak on several charges, including hit-and-run, damaging property and bodily injury. Court documents show he was born in Ethiopia. His case could be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

For those wishing to help the Howard family, the Curtis Bryce Howard Cancer Fund has been set up at America First Credit Union. You can donate* at any branch.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

KUTV 2news

This is the story that Channel 2 news did on my brother. he was interviewed by a great reporter. Thank you Stella!


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(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY – Curtis Howard and his wife are thankful to be alive after a cop car chase led to the suspect vehicle being vaulted through the air and crashing into the couple and their 18-month-old niece Sunday.

The couple was in the front yard of their home near 251 E. Downington Ave in Salt Lake Sunday morning when a 20-year-old man was speeding away from officers when his car crashed into a tree – causing it fly through the air into their yard and hit the family’s vehicle.

“I don't remember hearing the screeching. Next thing I know is my wife's screaming, got her hand on my head, I have my feet up in the air and I'm on the front steps of the porch,” Curtis Howard told 2News from a hospital bed at the University Hospital Sunday night.

The suspect crashed into other cars and a tree and eventually hit them as they were getting into a car.

“I was in the Corolla that got hit,” said Curtis’ wife Shannon. “I was buckling in the car seat and just hit my head.”

A fractured scapula, seven staples in the head, other scratches bumps and bruises -- although not injuries to ignore -- with time will heal.

The couple hopes and prays the same will happen with the stage four colon cancer that has invaded Curtis' body.

“I have one more week of radiation and chemotherapy. And then I have a break for two months before surgery,” he said.

But in another six months, there will be another batch of chemo.

Curtis says his strength comes from his family, wanting to see his 5-year-old son grow up, and praying for more children with his wife.

“I’m trying to figure out what lesson we're learning here,” Shannon said. “I mean everything happens for a reason.”

“I think it was Lance Armstrong who said either give up or fight like hell,” Curtis said.