- A truck crashed into Anvil Barber Co. Friday, injuring owner Cody Greenburg and one of his clients.
- Greenburg explained the shop was his family's only source of income.
- A GoFundMe page was created to support Greenburg's family as they recover.
AMERICAN FORK – Saturdays are usually busy at Anvil Barber Co. in American Fork.
"Oh, yeah," barber shop owner Cody Greenburg said with a smile.
It's the kind of place where the buzz of clippers blends with casual conversation, and where regulars come not just for a haircut, but for a connection.
But this Saturday, the buzz was replaced with silence and drywall dust.
"That's how it goes sometimes," Greenburg said, standing in the middle of drywall debris.
Just the day before, a pickup truck slammed through the front doors of his barbershop, hitting him and one of his clients during a haircut.
"Yeah, yeah, like as it was happening, I was thinking to myself, 'This doesn't happen,'" Greenburg said.
But on that Friday, it did happen.
According to American Fork police, a 70-year-old driver accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake.
"As he was coming in, I was like, 'He's really still going,'" Greenburg said.
Greenburg didn't have time to move and the truck hit him hard. He suffered major injuries to his leg, a torn ACL, MCL, and possibly more. His client was also injured and needed stitches.
"He was in the chair, and it pushed him all the way back into the back of the shop here," Greenburg explained.
The crash not only hurt Greenburg physically, but it hit emotionally, too. He bought the barbershop in April, fulfilling a longtime dream.
"I think anyone who gets into barbering wants to have their own shop one day. That entrepreneurial spirit and all," he said. "Barbering has offered me a lifestyle that no other job has been able to offer me."
It was more than just a job. Greenburg explained how it was also his family's only source of income, supporting him, his wife and their two children.
"This was where all the bills got paid," Greenburg said.
And if the crash and injuries weren't enough, one of the stalls that was damaged was a special one.
Greenburg and his wife had saved and memorialized the stall for Nick Shurtz, who was a close friend and co-worker who died unexpectedly earlier this year. The stall was set aside as a tribute.
"It's just one of those years when it rains, it pours, right? You know?" Greenburg said.
And yet, he is still smiling.
"If you don't laugh, you're going to cry," he said.
He said he and his wife were even cracking jokes after he got out of the hospital. "She'd be like, 'Remember that time you got hit by a truck?'" he said with a laugh. "I'm sure it is a coping mechanism."
Their laughter doesn't mean everything's OK. But it does mean they believe, one day, it will be.
"You just kind of brush yourself off and get back to it, you know?" said Greenburg. "We'll have a grand reopening here eventually."
A GoFundMe* donation page has been set up to help Greenburg and his family with expenses.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
