• News
  • Life
  • TV & Film
  • Beauty
  • Style
  • Home
  • News
    • Celebrity
    • Entertainment
    • Politics
    • Royal Family
  • Life
    • Animals
    • Food & Drink
    • Women's Health
    • Mental Health
    • Sex & Relationships
    • Travel
    • Real Life
  • TV & Film
    • True Crime
    • Documentaries
    • Netflix
    • BBC
    • ITV
    • Tyla Recommends
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Make-up
    • Skincare
  • Style
    • Home
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
Submit Your Content
Why Charlie Kirk had to be driven to hospital with door open entire journey as last moments are described

Home> News> Politics

Published 11:40 19 Sep 2025 GMT+1

Why Charlie Kirk had to be driven to hospital with door open entire journey as last moments are described

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated by 22-year-old alleged shooter Tyler Robinson last week

Rhianna Benson

Rhianna Benson

A week on, and harrowing new details are still emerging on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Amongst these is the news that the door of the car, in which the political activist was initially transported to hospital after sustaining a single gunshot wound to his neck, needed to be kept open through the entire journey.

The revelation was made by a close friend to Kirk, Christian author Frank Turek, who was in attendance on the day the 31-year-old was killed.

For those in need of a reminder, professional debater Kirk held a rally at Utah Valley University last week (10 Sept), which was attended by over 3,000 Republican voters.

Advert

Whilst in the midst of answering a question from a guest about the rise of gun violence in the States, the father-of-two was fatally shot in the neck by alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who is suspected to have been hiding on the rooftop of a nearby campus building.

Kirk was assassinated last week (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Kirk was assassinated last week (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

Though Kirk was subsequently rushed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, his political ally Donald Trump later confirmed that he'd died.

As we say, in the week since the gruesome political murder, increasing amounts of information about the attack have been released to the public.

Advert

Earlier this week, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, revealed what Kirk had written in a private text sent to her the day before his death, whilst a neuroscientist discussed his physical reaction to the bullet wound, revealing why he'd raised his arms.

As we say, however, Kirk's friend, 63-year-old writer Turek has since given a podcast interview about the Conservative's murder, recalling his journey to the hospital where medics attempted to save his life.

Appearing in the latest episode of his Cross Examined show, the religious author recalled administering him CPR to Kirk in the back of the car during the nail-biting trip.

"Charlie Kirk was literally a son to me," Turek claimed. "So, if your son got hit, what would you do? I got in the car - because if there was anyway I could save him, I had to do something."

Advert

Turek has recalled the shocking aftermath (Cross Examined)
Turek has recalled the shocking aftermath (Cross Examined)

He added: "Charlie is laid out right in front of me, and Charlie's so tall we can't close the door."

Whilst Turek reportedly repeated, 'Come on Charlie, come on, come on', in the back of the car, Kirk's security team is attempting to stop the bleeding from his neck, acting 'calmly but swiftly doing exactly what they were trained to do'.

Despite both attempts to save his life, however, Turek says Kirk had already died by the time they reached the hospital.

Advert

"Charlie wasn't there," he continued. "His eyes were fixed. He wasn't looking at me, he was looking past me right into eternity.

"He was with Jesus already."

Turek went on: "There was nothing any of us could do about it. We were giving him CPR but nothing was happening.

"It wasn't like if we had better first aid or we had better medical facilities or we were faster to the hospital, we could have saved him. We couldn't."

Advert

He continued: "So if that's any comfort at all, Charlie didn't suffer. He was gone, he was with Jesus.

Kirk died on his way to the hospital (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Kirk died on his way to the hospital (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"Absent from the body, present with the Lord."

Such was also the take of neuropsychologist Derek Van Schaik, who analysed the footage of the incident and claimed Kirk would not have 'had time to process' what had just happened to him after being shot.

"When someone suffers a catastrophic wound to the neck that destroys a carotid artery and jugular vein, the mind only has a fleeting window to possibly register what happened," he explained.

"However, in Charlie's case, and after analysing the footage with a digital timer, he was conscious for no more than four-tenths of a second after impact. Far too fast for his brain to even register what had happened to him."

According to Van Schaik, Kirk would have felt 'no panic, no dread, no realisation that he was about to die'.

Featured Image Credit: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images

Topics: Charlie Kirk, US News, Politics, News

Rhianna Benson
Rhianna Benson

Rhianna is an Entertainment Journalist at LADbible Group, working across LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She has a Masters in News Journalism from the University of Salford and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh. She previously worked as a Celebrity Reporter for OK! and New Magazines, and as a TV Writer for Reach PLC.

X

@rhiannaBjourno

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

12 hours ago
13 hours ago
  • Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
    12 hours ago

    Barack Obama hits Donald Trump with scathing Halloween-related blow in unexpectedly heated speech

    The Democrat gave a speech in Norfolk, Virginia, during which he discussed some of Trump's biggest controversies

    News
  • YouTube/Coca-Cola
    12 hours ago

    Coca-Cola's Christmas ad with ‘minimal human input’ sparks major debate

    The advert has caused quite a stir online with a lot of criticism for the company's use of AI

    News
  • Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
    13 hours ago

    Google issues clear warning to anyone who uses Gmail

    Google has issued advice to those using Gmail after mass reports of passwords being stolen

    News
  • Samir Hussein/WireImage
    13 hours ago

    Royal family quietly makes huge change after Prince Andrew is reduced to ‘Andrew’

    Buckingham Palace announced the news last Thursday (30 October)

    News
  • New update in Charlie Kirk murder suspect’s trial as judge grants small legal win
  • Charlie Kirk appears to have predicted his own murder as unsettling texts are revealed
  • Lip reader reveals what Erika Kirk said to JD Vance during viral hug that fuelled major debate
  • New footage of 'person of interest' fleeing from rooftop moments after Charlie Kirk assassination as FBI issues update on manhunt