January 9, 2023 |
The funeral service for Tyeler Harris, the EMT killed just before Christmas while responding to an early morning crash on Interstate 80, is scheduled for Sunday, January 15, in Riverton. The service also will be streamed on a big screen in the theater at the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga.
Harris was killed and a second EMT, Tiffany Greutzmacher, was seriously injured, when an apparently inattentive commercial truck driver slammed his tractor trailer combination into the crash scene where they were responding to an earlier crash around 4:15 a.m. on December 21.
Harris, a married father with three young children, and Greutzmacher had been dispatched to the original crash scene west of Rawlins around 4 a.m. while on duty with Memorial Hospital of Carbon County.
Hospital CEO Ken Harmon, in his monthly update to Carbon County Commissioners last week, briefed the board on the memorial service. Harmon said Tyeler’s family is holding the funeral in Riverton on Sunday, January 15 at 1p.m.
Harmon said a large contingent of hospital staff will travel to Riverton to attend the memorial.
Commission Chair Sue Jones said the service will be streamed to the theater at the Platte Valle Community Center in Saratoga so friends and colleagues of Tyeler and his family can congregate and share their grief.
Commission Chairwoman Jones offered the board’s condolences and talked about the work that emergency responders are called on to perform.
Harmon said he has been working closely with the families of the two EMTs. Greutzmacher, who was transported to the hospital in Cheyenne immediately following the crash, has been released and is making good progress on her recovery at home in Rawlins
Harmon said Greutzmacher may return to service eventually. The hospital has been impacted by the loss of the two EMTs. Harmon said other agencies are assisting MHCC in providing emergency ambulance services.
Harmon said the Wyoming Highway Patrol is still investigating the December 21st crash. The WHP has not announced whether any charges against the driver of the 2019 Freightliner that plowed into the crash scene have been filed or are pending. The hospital ambulance, which was new, was destroyed, Harmon said.
The impacts of the tragic, fatal crash just before Christmas have been devastating and numerous. Harmon made psychological counseling available to any staff or affected family members who wanted it. Some took advantage of the offer, he said. Harmon said he was impressed by how people have come together to support Tyeler’s family, saying it reflects well on a county that takes care of its own.
A GoFundMe page that was established by a relative of Tyeler’s for the family had raised $89,000 as of Sunday. The Bank of Commerce also set up an account to take contributions for the Harris Family.
Bigfoot 99 has learned that Governor Mark Gordon will mention Tyeler Harris and Tiffany Greutzmacher in his State of the State address on Tuesday.
