Man who crashed on his way to propose to girlfriend dies of injuries

A man who tragically crashed his car on his way to propose to his longtime girlfriend has died.

Adam Goodsell’s family announced his death Sunday on Facebook.

“Adam has returned to his heavenly father and mother,” they wrote. “Rest in Peace Adam! You will always be in our hearts. We love you and are grateful to have had you in our lives.”

Goodsell, 32, was severely injured in an accident March 9, when the brakes went out in the Land Rover he was driving. He was ejected from the vehicle and found unconscious, having suffered severe brain and head injuries, the Herald Journal of Logan, Utah, reported.

Goodsell was driving to Cache Valley, Utah, from Salt Lake City, where he’d bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend, Goldie Chaney.

Goodsell’s sister said she spoke to him by cell phone just 30 minutes before the accident. The siblings discussed the surprise proposal.
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Goldie Chaney was given the engagement ring that her boyfriend had intended to offer. (KSL TV)

“He was just so excited to give [the ring] to her,” she told ABC News. “That’s one thing that makes this even harder.”

A 911 transcript reveals the harrowing moments before the accident.

“My brakes went out, my gas pedal is stuck,” Goodsell told the operator, according to the Herald Journal.


The dispatcher asked where he was, and which direction he was heading, but it was too late, as Goodsell’s SUV was already rolling down an embankment and into a rocky ditch.

A Utah state trooper who found the ring in a puddle near the scene of the crash returned it to Goodsell’s family, who then gave it to Chaney.