NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Quizzes
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather
  • Opinion
  • Podcasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Crash victim fears death in video after motorcycle accident

Washington Post
29 Oct, 2016 10:39 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

The video shows Kevin Diepenbrock lying on the ground, his face bloodied.

The 41-year-old is in a wooded area; vehicles can be heard driving nearby. Diepenbrock recorded the footage in mid-October, after he had been involved in a motorcycle crash near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Diepenbrock was injured, but help had not arrived.

So Diepenbrock, whose friend was killed in the incident, began to record.

"Hey everybody," he says in the video. "I f-- up, that's all I can really say. At about 10.30 this morning. Been laying here ever since. About 50 feet down in the ravine. I just wanted to say I love you guys. Sorry I was being stupid, but you know that's what I do."

Diepenbrock then tells his parents he loves them. He lists his possible injuries. He asks that someone take care of his pups.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"See you soon," he says.

Diepenbrock - who had fallen more than 100 feet down a hill after the October 15 crash - was not rescued from the site until about 27 hours after the fatal collision, ABC News reported. Someone eventually heard him cry out, and that set in motion a rescue operation.

"It's a miracle that somebody even heard him there," Blount County Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Jerry Phillips told ABC News. "It's really amazing."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Never forget to tell people you love them. That's all I could think about when I was down there. Was that, you know, I never, you never say that enough," Diepenbrock told WATE, an affiliate station. "You never spend enough time with your parents, you never spend enough time with people that are close to you."

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the crash happened on a part of US Highway 129 that is known as "The Dragon," which, according to the newspaper, has "sharp curves and scenic views."

Diepenbrock was riding with Phillip Polito, a 29-year-old man who was a co-worker. A highway patrol report obtained by the News Sentinel indicates that Polito braked while the motorcycles were traveling on the roadway, and then the collision occurred, with Diepenbrock hitting the back of Polito's bike. The crash sent both motorcyclists off a steep embankment. The newspaper reported that Diepenbrock suffered punctured lungs, broken ribs and spinal fractures.

Motorists passed by, and Diepenbrock did cry out for help, the News Sentinel reported.

Discover more

World

The world's deadliest weapons

29 Oct 10:54 PM

But the newspaper noted that he couldn't be heard. And, the motorcycles and the two crash victims were down the embankment, where they couldn't be easily spotted, the News Sentinel said. So the injured Diepenbrock could not get anyone's attention.

"I don't know how anybody could have heard me," Diepenbrock told the newspaper. "Nobody stopped. ... I had moved just a little bit. I tried pulling myself over with a limb at one point, but I think at that point there was too much pain, and I passed out. I pretty much couldn't move."

Text messages to members of his family didn't send, the News Sentinel reported, Facebook status updates about the emergency didn't post. He spent the night at the crash site, and he shot the videos.

"The next-to-last was that morning," he told the newspaper, which reported that multiple clips were recorded. "I was like, 'It's been a while, nobody's come. I can't get ahold of anybody. I love you guys.' I ran out of battery juice. I turned off my cell signal because nothing had gone through, and I was trying to save my cellphone for that last video. Then I turned off my cell service, and my battery was completely dead. That was when I thought, 'I'm done.' "

Then - finally - a rescue. Here's what happened, via the News Sentinel:

A woman and her date drove by on a motorcycle. She told him to pull over so she could get a drink, and that was when Diepenbrock thinks she must have heard him yelling. At first, the couple couldn't see him from their vantage point high above the ravine, so they went to a nearby photography shop, 129 Photos, to get help. They returned with an Alabama man named Joshua Johnson who moved to the edge until he spotted Diepenbrock trying to get his attention.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Josh came sliding down," Diepenbrock said. "I just remember this guy and he's got his full helmet on, full race gear from a sport bike-type situation. This guy seemed like he was just bounding down the hill for me."

Diepenbrock was airlifted to a hospital after crews managed to haul him out of the embankment, according to the News Sentinel. He has reportedly been visited there by Johnson, the man who rushed down to help him.

"I know there were a lot of people [involved]," Diepenbrock told the newspaper. "But that's the guy that when he came down the hill, I saw him, and he grabbed my hand and said, 'Everything's going to be good and we're going to get out of here.' He said he'd get ahold of my family and stuff like that. That was the guy who meant everything to me."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Thirteen killed as Russia launches record drone strikes on Ukraine

26 May 03:10 AM
World

Trump labels Putin 'crazy', warns of Russia’s downfall

26 May 02:43 AM
World

Epstein accuser farewelled privately at Perth funeral

25 May 11:35 PM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Thirteen killed as Russia launches record drone strikes on Ukraine

Thirteen killed as Russia launches record drone strikes on Ukraine

26 May 03:10 AM

Russia launched a record 298 drones against Ukraine overnight, officials said.

Trump labels Putin 'crazy', warns of Russia’s downfall

Trump labels Putin 'crazy', warns of Russia’s downfall

26 May 02:43 AM
Epstein accuser farewelled privately at Perth funeral

Epstein accuser farewelled privately at Perth funeral

25 May 11:35 PM
From games to Nintendo theme park: Miyamoto's lifelong passion for play

From games to Nintendo theme park: Miyamoto's lifelong passion for play

25 May 09:16 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP