TULSA, Okla. — Tristen Cherry went to Bixby. His fiancée Katelyn Callahan, a Kiefer grad. They met at a dinner party at OU.
"We were together three years on December 2," Cherry said.
The two got engaged in February 2024, with the wedding set for May 31. But on May 2, tragedy struck.
"We got a phone call about 3-something in the morning that there had been an accident," Tristen's stepmother Traci Wages-Cherry said. "It doesn't matter that your kids are adults. It's the phone call you don't want. Ever."
"I kind of sat up in my seat, and I see headlights," Tristen said. "I said 'Katelyn, I love you.' And we hit."
WATCH: Green Country family grieving after fatal accident weeks before wedding
The couple and two other passengers, 17-year-olds Rudi Kroll and Jayli Diel, were coming home from the Calf Fry Festival in Stillwater. They were hit by a drunk driver going the wrong way on I-44 in Oklahoma City.
Katelyn died in the accident. Tristen spent nearly three weeks in a coma. He got the news a few days after waking up.
"It's taken me some time. Still do, to understand," Tristen said. "But it's not the easiest thing in the world."
Tristen spent a month in an Oklahoma City hospital. His injuries included 64 facial fractures, a compound fracture of his femur, a lacerated kidney, and seven lost teeth. His mouth is wired shut.
"He couldn't talk," Wages-Cherry said. "His eyes were swollen shut, so he couldn't see."
Tristen's stay included multiple surgeries and a celebration on their wedding day.
"It was a tough day," Wages-Cherry said. "You look at the calendar and think, this is not what we were supposed to be doing today."
"I saw Katelyn in her wedding dress in pictures," Tristen said. "She was gorgeous. All my groomsmen came up. Some of her bridesmaids came up. It was her family, my family. It was a great time."
Tristen's back home recovering, physically getting better every day. The mental and emotional side is tougher to work through.
"I talk to Katelyn every day," Tristen said. "The most I can ask for at this point is healing. That's from head to toe. Healing takes time, and time takes healing. So I'm just letting time go by."
Kroll and Diel, soon-to-be seniors at Garber High School, remain in the hospital six weeks later.
A poker run fundraiser has been set up for the families around Tulsa, ending in Sapulpa on June 28. All proceeds go to the Cherry and Callahan families.
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