Scripps Ranch grandfather killed in Thanksgiving dune buggy crash, family survives – NBC 7 San Diego

A Scripps Ranch family is dealing with heartache after their husband and father was killed in a dune buggy accident on Thanksgiving.

Rob Mallory, 53, and his family were out for a special ride when tragedy struck.

Video captured him on Thanksgiving day, just hours before disaster hit him and his family, as they headed to see a desert memorial fir his brother.

"It was absolutely violent. I think I passed out. I was like, I felt frozen. And then I tried to get out. I couldn't get out," said Misty Mallory.

Misty Mallory said another dune buggy came from a side trail and slammed into their dune buggy, nearly head-on.

Misty Mallory suffered injuries to her knee. Their son Dune and his girlfriend were also hurt.

Mallory was flown to a Palm Springs hospital where he was given this honor walk after being kept on life support until Monday.

Misty Mallory shared the final words she told her husband of 23 years.

"I just said that I'd never stop loving him and that he would always be in my heart. I will take him with me everywhere," she said.

Longtime family friend Jennifer Kayler is feeling the void.

“You just never know the impact that someone's going to have on your life, and also like the huge hole that it's going to leave when they're not there," said Kayler.

Rob Mallory worked in the tech industry, loved racing across the Ocotillo Wells desert and working on cars with his son.

Kayler said his compassion was unmatched — from building computers for her parents to buying her son the software that would help shape his future.

“He gave my son his first Adobe Premiere back when he was a kid. And then now my son works in film and TV," she said.

In a final act of kindness, the husband, father of two and grandfather is now giving life to others.

“I'd hate to have a loved one in need of an organ and waiting. People wait years. If he has functioning, healthy organs, why not help somebody?," said his wife.

Rob Mallory's memory will live on in the hearts and minds of his family and friends and the place he loves, with a desert memorial next to his brother's.