The impact of seeing a car crash about 26 years ago helped motivate Marshall Gilstrap and his mother to take a first aid course a year or two later.

Despite close calls in the years since, the 38-year-old said, those skills were never needed until one night nearly two weeks ago.

A musician and the owner of a karaoke business, Gilstrap must drive between distant towns and cities on Wyoming's highways. On these drives, he said, the sight of crashes and near-crashes is not uncommon. He has watched approaching cars wander toward him and had to guess each time at a driver's next move.

Last month, he found himself behind a truck meandering wildly on the road. He was relieved when the driver was detained by a state trooper and later charged with drunken driving.

On June 14, however, he drove upon a tragedy that was not averted. Kathleen Seidler, 53, and her 20-year-old son, Joel Seidler, were killed when a pickup truck traveling the opposite direction on U.S. Highway 20-26 collided with their van about 65 miles west of Casper, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Three other members of the Colorado family and the driver of the pickup were injured in the crash.

The pickup driver apparently fell asleep, according to Lt. Larry Jordan of the Highway Patrol. He said troopers are still investigating the crash and that charges may yet be filed.

Gilstrap left Casper at about 6 that evening to return to his home in Riverton. Driving toward the setting sun, the crash first appeared to him as a sort of mist over the highway. He did not know what to make of a pickup truck and a minivan that seemed to be spinning in the road. But as he neared the site of the crash a few miles east of Natrona County's border, Gilstrap said, questions of what and then why gave way to a sense of urgency.

"Something came over me," Gilstrap said. "I felt I had to help."

He couldn't get a cell phone signal, so he decided to check on those who were injured. He first spoke to Charity Seidler, 17, who had somehow gotten out of the family's crumpled van. The girl was wandering in the area, asking what had happened.

"I couldn't believe she came from the van," Gilstrap said.

Gilstrap then checked on Jessica Seidler, 23, the most seriously injured of those who survived the crash, and Heidi Seidler, 26, who had been driving. He checked on Michael Paslay, the 47-year-old driver of the pickup. He reached to deflate the man's airbag so it would not obstruct his breathing.

When another driver arrived, Gilstrap said, he encouraged her to comfort the crash survivors and to try to keep them from moving. He then drove back toward Casper to seek a cell phone signal or a telephone. He found help in Hiland before returning to help care for the survivors.

Heidi Seidler, who had been unconscious, started to wake up. He feared she had lost enough blood to put her into shock, and he called on information from the early first-aid class and another he only partially completed more recently as he helped elevate the woman's legs, a maneuver meant to keep precious blood near an accident victim's vital organs.

Eventually, paramedics and other rescue workers arrived. Gilstrap watched them don protective gloves and then looked at his own hands. They were covered in blood, as were his clothes.

Gilstrap filled out a report for the Highway Patrol and then returned home late that night. He felt helpless in the following days before that feeling started to give way to another.

"It was an honor to be able to help," Gilstrap said. He visited the Seidlers in the hospital and said he values the relationship he has established with them. "I feel like I have known them all my life."

Gilstrap spoke with some reluctance to the Star-Tribune about his actions on June 14, arguing he does not feel he deserves special credit. A woman named "Regina" was the first other person to arrive, he said. She helped care for the survivors, as did the driver of a snack food delivery truck and others.

Bonnie Neely, a friend of the Seidlers who started a Web site to track their recovery, said the family believes that Gilstrap's knowledge of first aid and his ability to use it likely made a difference.

"We really believe he saved Jessica's life," Neely said.

Jessica Seidler, who plans to begin work as a teacher this year, has endured several operations without complications, Neely said.

The crash occurred as the Seidlers returned from a conference at a church near Yellowstone, the first trip they had taken together since the death last fall of Tom Seidler, husband and father of five. Tom Seidler died only weeks after physicians diagnosed him with stomach cancer, Neely said.

The eldest of the Seidler children, 28-year-old Josh, was not in the van at the time of the crash. He also lives in Colorado, with his wife and two children. They are expecting a third, Neely said.

Crosses on Highway 20-26 now mark the site of the crash. Gilstrap said he placed them there Wednesday morning, honoring a promise he made to the family.

He said he also hopes the markers will make an impression on passing drivers.

"I want the people out there driving that road to see that it's really dangerous," Gilstrap said.

Reporter Anthony Lane can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or at anthony.lane@casperstartribune.net.

Safety tips

Two people died and four others were injured June 14 in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 20-26. The Wyoming Highway Patrol reports that the driver of a pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic, possibly after he fell asleep. Lt. Larry Jordan offers safety tips for drivers and passengers:

* "Always be prepared to take evasive action" and avoid head-on collisions. Jordan suggests being aware of your surroundings at all times so you know your options when faced with a certain collision.

* "Don't push it." Take a nap if you are sleepy rather than facing the possibility of causing a crash.

* Wear seat belts, and wear them correctly. The two who died in the June 14 crash reportedly wore their seatbelts with the shoulder straps behind them. Seatbelts are most effective, Jordan said, when they are worn with the shoulder strap in its proper position.

*Information about the recovery of the three Seidlers who were injured in the crash can be found at http://www.seidler.kazakinfo.com/.