Man sets record in car accident

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Matthew McKnight hopes nobody ever needs to top his feat in “Guinness World Records 2008.”

That’s because McKnight holds the record for “Greatest Distance Thrown in a Car Accident” in the book’s 2008 edition. McKnight holds the record because he lived to tell about being thrown 118 feet by a car that hit him while traveling about 70 mph.

McKnight, 29, of Connellsville, was injured when he pulled over to help accident victims along Interstate 376 in Monroeville, about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, on Oct. 26, 2001. He suffered numerous injuries, spent two weeks in the hospital and 80 days in rehab before returning to work in April 2002. These days, he walks without a limp.

McKnight is a volunteer firefighter and paramedic, though he wasn’t on duty when he stopped to help the accident victims. He works full-time as a communications specialist at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

McKnight’s emergency room physician, Dr. Eric Brader, submitted paperwork for the record, which Guinness recognized in 2003. It was not listed in the book until the 2008 edition, however.