Buckhead West BBQ owners Bill and Tracey Wrench reopened their restaurant at 600 Main Ave. on May 19 after taking a five-month hiatus to recuperate from injuries and trauma suffered in a car crash.
The crash took place in late January on U.S. Highway 160 west of town, and the couple walked away with broken ribs, concussions and post-traumatic stress disorder, the pair told The Durango Herald in an interview.
The couple’s vehicle was hit head-on by another car traveling the opposite direction. It flipped several times before hitting a guardrail, which stopped the car from going over the side of the mountain, Bill said.
“It was hard core,” he said. “We were coming down (Highway) 160, (driving) on the curve, and the (other) guy kept going straight. ... He hit us, and we started rolling.”
The couple said if the car had rolled once more, it would have gone over the edge – which law enforcement said would have been a difficult crash to survive.
The pair still experience flashbacks when they drive past the crash site, which is often since they commute that direction to and from work.
“We were so shell-shocked,” Tracey said. “My mom came and stayed with us for a week, and she was like, ‘I thought I was going to have to commit you.’ She said we were walking around like zombies.”
The couple needed several months to recuperate mentally and physically before returning to work, Bill said.
“February, March and then April; we weren’t mentally ready to come back, and I’m like, ‘Let’s just wait till it’s the (tourism) season,’” he said.
The community response has been touching, the couple said.
A GoFundMe organized by the family had raised nearly $12,000 as of Friday.
“The people of Durango have been incredible, and that’s really, really helped us,” Bill said. “In other cities, people aren’t as nice.”
The pair held a grand reopening last week.
epond@durangoherald.com
