By Lisa Johnson
A West Virginian mother said her son was just trying to be a Christian when he died late Saturday night after being struck by a car on I-15.
BYU student Ammon Gladwell, acting as a Good Samaritan, pulled over to help another person whose car crashed into a median just before 3 a.m. After running across the lanes of the freeway traffic, Gladwell was hit by an oncoming car.
?As a mother I wish he wouldn?t have gotten out of the car,? said Colleen Gladwell, the victim?s mother. ?But that?s the way he was. He died trying to help someone.?
Sgt. Ted Tingey of the Utah Highway State Patrol said the incident happened on the southbound side of I-15 near 2400 South. Gladwell had parked his car in the left-hand emergency lane and after proceeding toward the crashed vehicle, was hit and thrown into the car, Tingey said.
Two other people who came to the car?s aid were also hit, receiving non-life-threatening injuries, and were taken to LDS Hospital.
Tingey said the Highway Patrol is still investigating exact details of the crashed car and the events leading up to and after Gladwell?s death.
Although she isn?t ready to give up her 22-year-old son, Gladwell?s mother said she has found some comfort from the help she?s received from the Utah Highway Patrol. Tingey told her that her son didn?t suffer, being killed instantly and receiving 90 percent trauma to the back of his head.
?He was a people person and had a genuine concern for people,? she said.
Gladwell recently returned from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seattle, Wash. Colleen Gladwell said he really enjoyed his mission and loved the people he served.
?Missionary work and educating the people in the gospel was a number one priority for Ammon,? his mother said.
Since the accident, she has received an overwhelming amount of calls from people in the Seattle area telling her what a great person her son was, she said.
?He was the type of kid that seemed old when he was young,? she said. ? He matured and grew up quick.?
At the age of 15, Gladwell started a disc jockey company in West Virginia called Gladwell Music Shows. He later moved the company to Provo when he started attending BYU.
Gladwell also had a wide variety of interests, she said. In high school he was the senior-class president, president of his chapter of the Future Farmers of America and was a member of the swim team. He was very concerned with physical fitness and loved rock climbing in the Utah area.
But most of all, Gladwell loved people, his mother said.
?I always had to keep an extra eye on him when he was young because he always talked to strangers,? she said. ?He just loved meeting people.?
Gladwell came to BYU from Clarksburg, W. Va and was planning on earning a degree in business. His mother said he ultimately wanted to be a mortician but wanted a business degree to fall back on in the future.
?We love BYU, and we are so grateful Ammon had the opportunity to go there,? she said.
The funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Clarksburg LDS Stake in Clarksburg, W. Va.
