A young Utah newlywed is being remembered as a hero after he gave his life to save his pregnant wife from a drunk driver who jumped a curb and plowed into them on a sidewalk — and the man responsible is now heading to prison.
Matthew Daines, 26, was walking with his wife Andrea in Springville, Utah, when a Chevrolet Silverado left the roadway and came barreling directly toward the couple. In a split second, Daines shoved Andrea out of the path of the vehicle, absorbing the full and fatal impact himself. Andrea survived without injury. Matthew did not.
The driver, Travis McIntyre, was found to be more than six times over the legal blood alcohol limit at the time of the crash. He was arrested on charges of vehicular homicide, DUI, and several related offenses. This week, after pleading guilty to automobile homicide while driving under the influence, McIntyre was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison.
At sentencing, the courtroom was filled with members of both families, shattered by a single night of reckless decision-making. The presiding judge did not hold back.
“There is a room full of people sitting behind you from at least two different extended families that you have destroyed,” the judge told McIntyre directly, adding that Daines lost his life because McIntyre could not be bothered to call a ride.
McIntyre addressed the court as well, acknowledging he was nowhere near ready to seek forgiveness. “From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry,” he said.
Prosecutors called Daines’ final act one of pure sacrifice. His father read aloud from Matthew’s personal journal during the hearing — entries revealing a man deeply in love with his new wife, hoping for a long life together.
The couple had married just months before the crash. Andrea later discovered she was pregnant. Their daughter will grow up never knowing the father who died saving her life.
