Pair survives rollover on U.S. 98

Two men were lucky to be alive after the Jeep Cherokee they were driving flipped three times from the eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 98 and rolled into the embankment.

David Klefsaas of Panama City Beach was driving the Jeep, which was outfitted with a U-Haul stacked with lumber, and Theo Farnsworth of Choctaw Beach was in the passenger seat. Klefsaas attempted a left-hand turn from Sunrise Drive onto U.S. 98 headed eastbound when a gust of wind hit the car.

“It just started swerving a little,” said Klefsaas. “Snd then it just went.”

The Jeep rolled over three times, coming to rest upside down in the embankment on the south side of the street, facing west. The trailer remained upright, and the chain helping to hold the two vehicles together was tightly wound.

Both men escaped the wreckage unharmed, and both refused EMS treatment.

“To come out of it,” Farnsworth said, gesturing to the Jeep, “It was crazy.”

Klefsaas and Farnsworth met at Vision Church about a month ago, and a new friendship was born.

“He’s a first class individual,” Farnsworth said of Klefsaas. “He was doing me a favor. I was working on my trailer, I got a fixer upper, and we were getting wood so I could work on it.”
Klefsaas has had the Jeep for a number of years; it had more than 237,000 miles on it.

“I was going for 400,000 (miles),” said Klefsaas. “It did save me as well; it kept me alive.”

The two men credit a higher power for helping them walk away from the accident.

“We’re blessed, not lucky,” said Farnsworth. “There’s no luck to this. The only thing that keeps someone alive in this is Jesus.”

Farnsworth said that his immediate thought as he was crawling out of the twisted metal was “I can’t believe I am walking away from this.”

“Isn’t God great?” replied Klefsaas.