State Trooper Bobby Kintzel Jr.
In April 2001, police say a suspect in a high-speed chase intentionally tried to murder Bobby Kintzel as he was laying down tire spikes on U.S. Highway 95.
The attempted murder left Kintzel with critical injuries. Doctors initially gave him less than a 2 percent chance of survival. A portion of Kintzel's brain had to be removed during life-saving surgery
He suffered other serious injuries. In fact, the trama unit nurse told him most people rarely survive 3 serious injuries. Bobby survived 5 including a broken left femur, 5-7 fractures within his pelvis region, masive internal injuries, eye trama and brain trama. He's had to learn to walk and talk again but he miraculously pulled through.
But not only is a former NHP trooper alive, he is what can be called a TRUE TROOPER!
Bobby Kintzel; "It's going to be hard for me to get back to normal, but you know what, at least I'm still alive."
Bobby Kintzel doesn't wear a uniform any longer, but he is back at the NHP. The state created a job for him -- educating the public on the dangers of the road. It is a subject he can easily discuss after he was run over in April 2001. He wasn't expected to survive. "I'm not a quitter. I know I'm still here. I'm a very positive person."
Bobby was forced to medically retire from the Nevada Highway Patrol on January 1st, 2007. He now works part time at the Clark County Coroners Office and has found the employees and the environment fits him very well! "I have great supervisors, such as Mr. Murphy, John Futenburg and Bill Gazza, just to name a few!" Bobby was voted by the employees as part time forensics assistent of the year and proofed he is STILL a good worker! "If Highway Patrol wants to push me out the door, I can take my hard work elsewhere, and I have shown people that I can do it!"
He said he survived because he had everything going for him in terms of physics -- the vehicle hit his body's "center mass," Kintzel said. If he were taller or smaller, he believes he wouldn't have survived.
Bobby said he wanted to be a motivational speaker even before this happened but he "didn't have anything to talk about." Now he feels he can use what happened to him to inspire other people.
NEVER Give Up!
This is the simple but moving message Bobby delivers to school children and adults all over the country.
Bobby’s message has inspired his audience to be their best by relying on their own internal strengths and demonstrates the power of personal choice.
Bobby said he could have chosen suicide many times, but he said he realized "If you commit suicide, you give up, you quit."
"I'm not a quitter. I know I'm still here for a reason."
