BYU-Idaho student ‘lucky to be alive’ watches husband graduate

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - Alexa Lovell recovered enough from a recent car accident to watch her husband, Mitch, walk in Brigham Young University-Idaho's graduation on Thursday.

Mitch and Alexa have been married for a little over three years.

During Mitch's last semester of school, Alexa visited her in-laws in Arizona when she was struck in a major intersection.

Alexa's father says she's lucky to be alive.

“She gets T-boned by a very large truck who just ran the red light and she's in a little Mini Cooper," Alexa's father Tony Overbay said. "It threw the car. It was well over a hundred feet out into a field.”

Alexa was rushed to the emergency room.

According to her father, she suffered a crushed pelvic ring, several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

“One of the surgeons basically said that the upper half of her body had been separated from her lower half and that we were just very fortunate that she is alive," Overbay said.

Mitch left Rexburg to be with his wife.

With tremendous support, he was able to finish his last semester online while caring for Alexa.

“My teachers were pretty understanding about it," Mitch Lovell said as he waited for the graduation ceremony. "They allowed me to finish online and everything. But it was tough. It was tough. You know, having the willpower, I guess, to do school from home when your wife is is obviously not doing well right now.”

Alexa's father came into town to support Mitch at his graduation, while Alexa watched the broadcast.

“She's in a pretty good mental space, but the road ahead is just completely unknown,” Overbay said.

For more information on Alexa's condition or how to get involved, you can check Tony Overbay's GoFundMe page.