Quadriplegic Montana Missionary Wins $26 Million Settlement After 2009 Rollover Left Him Paralyzed and Brain-Injured

On the afternoon of July 21, 2009, Jeremy Vangsnes was riding in an SUV on Interstate 90 near Belgrade, Montana, returning from a side trip to Glacier National Park. The vehicle was driven by Scott Minear, a 20-year-old University of Georgia student, and also carried Jeremy's brothers Ryan and Daniel. All four were participants in a 10-week summer resort missions program organized by the North American Mission Board (NAMB), the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The SUV drifted off the highway onto the grass shoulder, and Minear overcorrected. The vehicle rolled multiple times. Vangsnes, then 21 and entering his senior year at Coastal Carolina University where he competed in cross-country running, was reported dead at the scene before responders realized he was alive. He survived but suffered catastrophic injuries: quadriplegia and a traumatic brain injury that ended his athletic career and his ability to live independently.

First Baptist Church of West Yellowstone, the local church that hosted the summer program, settled for $1 million in 2013. The central legal dispute concerned whether NAMB, as the sponsoring organization, bore vicarious liability for the crash. NAMB contested that the trip was an unauthorized personal excursion outside the scope of the missions program.

Hoyt and Blewett attorneys Alexander Blewett III and Anders Blewett represented Vangsnes in the litigation against NAMB and its insurers. On June 19, 2015, Judge Mike Salvagni of the 18th Judicial District in Gallatin County ruled that Minear 'was acting within the course and scope of his agency with NAMB' at the time of the crash, establishing the organization's vicarious liability. Within days of that ruling, NAMB's insurers agreed to pay the full policy limits.

The resulting $26 million settlement was reported at the time to be the largest insurance settlement in Montana state history. The funds were designated to provide Vangsnes with 24-hour skilled nursing care and to purchase a home adapted for his needs. Anders Blewett stated the settlement would allow Jeremy 'to live the fullest life possible' despite injuries that could never be undone.