On the morning of August 18, 2015 I left my home with my two small children, Marissa (6 years old) and Jonathan (9 months old). I was heading to the grocery store. I came to a stop light and entered the left only turning lane. My turning light and the light for my side of the street were red. While I was waiting for the light to turn green, I saw a car coming from the other side of the road at a high rate of speed. It didn’t look like the vehicle was going to slow down or stop for the red light. At this point I watched the vehicle to my right cross into the intersection through his green light. I saw the woman’s vehicle that was coming towards me slam into the man’s vehicle that just went through the green light. The force of the collision caused the man’s car to spin around and slam into driver’s door of my truck. This hit actually pushed my truck into the straight-away lane. My kids were screaming in the back seat. I will never forget those screams. Marissa was yelling to Jonathan – “It’s going to be okay Jonathan”. They were both crying like I have never heard any child cry before. My immediate thought was to get out of my truck in order to reach my children. I wanted to make sure they were okay. My door was stuck shut and I was not able to open it immediately. I had to kick the door three times in order to force it open. I picked up the phone to call my fiance and inform her that we were just in a car accident. As I looked around at the scene all I could see were car parts and fluids leaking from all three vehicles. I stood by Jonathan’s door trying to calm my children while waiting for the police and EMS to arrive on the scene.
My six year old daughter (Marissa) was definitely emotionally effected by this accident. She will sleep only if she is in our bedroom. There were two nights when Marissa started yelling in her sleep, “Jonathan…Jonathan…it’s okay.” My fiance and I just laid in bed crying when we heard her say those words. She has even noticed the change in my emotional state while I’m driving. For the first few days after the accident, I was extremely nervous about driving and it was obvious to Marissa. She would say to me, “It’s okay Daddy. You got this. Just remember it wasn’t your fault.” On Friday, September 4, 2015 Marissa sat in the back seat of the car as I was driving and took notes on how well I was driving. Below is an image of the note:
I am unable to sleep because I think about the accident, the truck, the chiropractor and everything associated with that August day. I find that little things annoy me more now than they used to before the accident, like my son crying or my daughter asking too many questions. I get extremely frustrated whenever I see cars that speed through yellow lights or not fully stopping at stop signs. My frustration comes from the fact that this accident has made me realize that the negligence of the driver can take the life of an innocent person. I find myself slowing down to the point of almost stopping whenever I approach an intersection even if the light is green.
My fiance lost a student that was texting and driving. Everyone sees commercials about the dangers of texting and driving. I HAVE LIVED TO TELL MY PERSONAL STORY – That girl was texting and driving the morning of August 18, 2015. It has been 8 months since the accident but I still remember the screams of my children. I still shudder going through that intersection every day. The emotional toll is indescribable. My family are the lucky ones! We survived.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE!
Post time: Dec-24-2016