SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Former KSAT and ESPN sportscaster Cordell Patrick was ejected from an RV crash onto a busy Southern California freeway this week and lived to tell about it.
Covered in bandages, Patrick described the experience in hospital-bed interviews with Los Angeles-area TV news stations as he recovered from multiple broken bones.
“It was a blur. It was crazy. I don’t know how I’m alive,” Patrick, who worked at KSAT in the early 1990s, told KCAL/KCBS. Watch a video of the crash and his interview with KABC in the video player above.
The crash happened Monday on State Route 14 as Patrick and his wife were nearing their home in Valencia, just north of Los Angeles, after a camping trip. His wife was at the wheel of the recreational vehicle and Patrick got up to use the RV’s restroom.
“I had just unbuckled my seat belt — it was unbuckled for five seconds,” Patrick told KTLA. “I noticed my wife had dozed off ... we are headed toward the median and I tried to grab the steering wheel, but before I could grab the steering wheel, we already had impact.”
Patrick was hurled out the driver-side window and over the center median wall, where he tumbled and slid along the opposite side of the freeway — a scene captured on a motorist's dashcam. A driver swerved to avoid hitting him and he pulled himself against the divider as people came to his aid.
Patrick suffered multiple broken bones, extensive road rash and required numerous head stitches
“By the grace of God I’m still here, man,” he told KABC-TV.
Patrick worked at KSAT in the early 1990s and covered the Spurs and major sporting events in San Antonio. He recently worked as a commentator for ESPN Plus, calling Texas State basketball games.
He is a graduate of Texas State University.
In the KSAT video below, Patrick is seen toasting New Year’s Day with Bob Salter and Steve Browne. Salter, a San Antonio news legend, passed away in 2015, and Browne retired from KSAT in 2018.