Though suffering broken ribs, a broken back, collapsed lungs, and brain damage that has left him with memory problems, Eli Ulibarri is still hopeful he can serve a mission.
His mother shared this touching story with KSL of when his bishop came to visit Eli in the hospital, and Eli commented that he liked his tie, prompting the bishop to take it off and give it to Eli. "Eli said, 'I'm going to wear this on my mission, I'm going to be proud to wear this tie' and the bishop said, 'I'm going to be really proud that you're going to wear this on your mission," Eli's mother shared.
A prospective missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was paralyzed in an officer-involved car accident in January and has not yet opened his mission call as a result.
Eli Ulibarri, 21, was driving his motorcycle southbound on Martin Luther King Street North around 7:40 p.m., Jan. 12, when Cpl. Joe Miner with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office pulled out of a business in an unmarked police car and began crossing the same street, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.