This entry was posted on 2/4/2007 4:45 PM and is filed under Accidents.
If you know or have known someone who has either been in a severe accident, we would like to hear your story. We would like to hear testimony as to what has worked to keep people safe and what has not.
Our daughter was fataly injured on October 10, 2006. It was undoubtedly the worst single event in our lives.
2/4/2007 7:24 PM
Denise wrote:
My niece, Kresha Ann, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Nebraska on Good Friday, April 14, 2006. She also was 17 years old, a junior in high school. She wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle, so her boyfriend was teaching her. He told her what to do but when she applied gas to the bike, we think that it startled her and took off too fast. They say that when you panic on a motorcycle your wrists lock in the position that accelerates the bike, this is what we think she did. She hit a curb and then hit the side of a house, hitting her head on the house. She was wearing a helmet, but her chest hit the handle bars which crushed her organs, cutting a main arterty. She bled to death in a matter of seconds. I think she was on the bike less than a few minutes.
Kresha loved to write poetry. One line from one of her poems is printed on her gravestone. "Everyone deserves a happy end".
We all love her soo much and miss her. She was the oldest grandchild on my side of the family. We all felt like we helped raise her.
I really hope your foundation reaches out and helps teenagers understand the dangers of being behind a wheel. Every year at least one teenager is killed in a car accident that is from your area. I always heard about it on the news or read about it in the paper. Then one day it was my niece's picture in the paper and on the news. Her junior picture was used for her funeral and the paper, that is the last school picture she will ever have taken. Fortunately, it was a very good picture of her.
They say that people start to make plans, as if they know something is going to happen to them. Two weeks before her death, she told her boyfriend that she wanted to be cremated. I can't remember ever discussing these kinds of issues when I was a teenager.
Thank you for putting making this blog site available for others to write about their losses. It is a subject that is hard to talk about but once you lose someone you don't want to stop talking, it is a way to keep them with you.
We lost our mother in 1998 to cancer, my sister, Kresha's mom, feels comfort knowing my mom is taking care of Kresha today. Reply to this
2/5/2007 2:47 PMMatt Cross wrote:
Hi, When I was 15 my cousin CB was involved in a motorcycle accident.He was going way to fast for the country roads of Cincinnati, Arkansas when another car going the opposite direction was passing someone. That person hit him head on and killed him instantly. My uncle was a volunteer fire fighter and was the first on the scene. He did everything he could but it didn't save him. This was the worst feeling I have ever had and I never thought I would feel it again until my best friend Brittaney was killed. I just want to say everyone needs to slow down, buckle up, and get there safely because seriously what is the hurry. I am sure the person who you are going to meet would rather you be a little late than to get a call saying you were seriously injured or killed in an accident on there way to see you. Reply to this
2/16/2007 7:03 AM
Traci Blackstock wrote:
Wow, this is a great idea. My nephew, Ryan Blackstock was killed in a car accident in Van Buren, Ar on April 6, 2004. He was as close to my own child as one could be. This loss was devastating to our close knit family. He was the middle passenger in a full size truck, the truck flipped, he was thrown out, in the process of the truck coming to a stop, it rolled over the back of his head, obviously causing severe head trauma. He underwent 1 surgery for a ruptured spleen, but it was hopeless, we stayed by his bedside for the next 4-5 hours, savoring every minute with him possible until his heart beat for the last time. Similiar to your daughter, this could of been prevented had he simply been wearing a seat belt. The other two kids in the truck are doing great. I am jealous of their families. They are so lucky. Ryan was a popular kid, and at his funeral, my dad turned to all the kids there (several hundred) and reminded them all to wear their seatbelts. For Ryan if for no other reason. It has been a rough 3 years, to his mother, the pain is as if it just happened yesterday. All because of a seat belt. Thank you for this website, if it makes kids (or anyone for that matter) realize the importance of seat belts, then it is all worth it. I know your pain will never go away, at times it, in fact, seems overwhelming, even after 3 years, but you are doing a fantastic thing with this website in your daughters honor. All the best to you and your husband. Ryans story and pictures are on a website called MEM.com, you just type in his last name and it will take you there. Reply to this
2/16/2007 8:32 AMSarah wrote:
Thanks so much for your input. Ryan was a great looking guy. I am sure we will always miss Britt, but we needed to do something positive in her honor. You can see more pictures of her at www.dabberweb.com. Again, thanks for your note. Sarah Reply to this
2/18/2007 11:55 AM
Kim Duncan wrote:
Hey, i went to school with Brittaney for a while and i want ppl to know how amazing she was and get the brittaneyann.org statement across to others so im trying to have as many friends as possible to visit this site and be aware of the responsabilties of driving and to remember an amazing girl that touched the lives of many ppl Reply to this
2/18/2007 9:45 PM
kimberly wrote:
Your tragic story has touched me deeply. My daughter Brittany Ann was kiiled on Feb. 3 2002. She also was 17. And like your daughter, she too was not wearing a seat belt. Her accident was so horrific, a seat belt would not have saved her life, but I do feel your loss with you. I just wanted to say, my heart goes out to you. Kimberly Elizalde Reply to this
2/18/2007 9:57 PMSarah wrote:
I am very sorry to hear of your loss. Every time I ever heard about this on the news I would always pray for the family. I hope I prayed for yours. If you ever feel like you have an idea or would like to help in any way, you can e-mail me directly off of the contacts list. This foundation is not just about seatbelt safety. I know every accident has a cause. Whatever the cause of your daughters, we would love to address it as well if we have not already. Thanks for sharing with us. Sarah Reply to this
2/27/2007 9:46 AM
Vince wrote:
Several years ago (well, more than several, actually) my cousin and her fiancee were going to the Jersey shore from Philadelphia. Along the way, a drunk driver lost control and crossed into their lane at a not-terribly-outlandish rate of speed, but the combined speeds were well over 90mph when they collided. Kathy went right thru the windshield and was dead instantly from a shattered cranium. Her fiancee, who had decided to wear his belt, was hospitalized for several months but recovered and is now a grandfather as well as a respected Minister in the mid-west. Kathy is dead. She didn't want to wrinkle her dress with the seat belt. When my Aunt died last year, the first thing her husband did was take that dress and burn it. Ever since that day, if I'm driving the car, we go no-where if all the passengers are not buckled in. It's a damn shame that it took the death of a lively, vibrant young woman to convince me of the necessity of passenger compartment restraint systems. I couldn't be more in favour of a "Primary Violation Statute" if Kathy had been my daughter or my sister, instead of my cousin who had turned around and was talking to me as I rode in the back seat of the car that day. Vince Brennan Philadelphia Reply to this
3/26/2007 12:08 PM
Jordan wrote:
My dad was in a car accident when i was just 5 years old. He was drinking and driving and wasent wearing his seatbelt. He was just a few blocks away from our house and was turning left, they think his feet got tangled up in the gears..(he was peralized from a wreck he got into when he was 16 so his truck was differant than a normal one) and he just lost control. My dad ended up hitting a pole by a stop sighn and then going on into a building. He was killed instantley. I wish no one has to go through the loss of someone this way...but some of us do, and the only thing we can do is try and prevent it. So buckle up not only for yourself and your saftey..but for the people you love as well. Reply to this
7/14/2007 3:06 PM
Amanda Frazier wrote:
In January of 2000 I was thrown from a toyota tacoma after it hit another truck broad side. I am blessed to have escaped the accident with traumatic brain injury and a back injury. This accident was the result of a 16 year old boy driving too fast on wet pavement and failing to stop at an intersection. I was not wearing a seatbelt because like so many other young people I thought that I was invincible. My parents received a phone call from a hysterical girl at the scene of the accident that told them it was bad and to hurry. I do not think that I will ever get over the guilt of knowing the torture that my parents went through as a result of my decision not to wear a seat belt.
It took my parents years to get over the fear that something bad was going to happen to myself or my brother when we drove somewhere without them. By July of 2005 they were getting back to being more relaxed and not fearing the worst. I will never forget our phone ringing at around 7pm on July 22, 2005. My grandmother was calling to inform us that my 24 year old cousin, Michael Casey, had been killed in a car accident only thirty minutes from his home. He had been headed home from work and was attempting to pass a big truck when an oncoming car came around a curve approaching quickly. Since he had already committed to passing the big truck, he gassed on it and swerved his truck in time to miss the oncoming car. However, his truck dropped off of the side of the highway enough to make him lose control of the vehicle. He jerked the truck left to avoid going off the side of the road, but he overcorrected and hit the side of the enbankment on the oncoming side of the road after his truck flipped. His passenger and coworker escaped with minor injuries because he was wearing a seatbelt. Michael was thrown from the truck and it rolled over him before it came to a rest against the embankment. A friend of our family witnessed the accident and was at Michael's side immediately. Michael squeezed our friend's hand in response to his voice, but he died shortly after the paramedics arrived. If only he had been wearing his seatbelt, he would be with us now. Instead that friday night, my dad and I quickly went up to the local hospital where his body had been taken to comfort his mother and his young widow. He had been married for five months and had just bought land to build a house. He was also excited because he and his wife had decided to start a family soon. He truly was a beautiful person inside and out, and to this day I don't understand why I am here and he is not. The only thing that is clear is that no one is guaranteed another day in this world and that at any moment we can be gone. My heart goes out to all of you who have suffered a loss. I just want all young people to understand the importance of seatbelts and that their lives can be over or changed forever in a matter of seconds. Please buckle up! Reply to this
10/14/2008 11:29 AM
Branden Perryman wrote:
I cant believe it has already been two years. It doesnt seem quick though it seems like yesterday when I heard. I miss you so much and thought about you all day. you are missed so much and just so you know i think about you everytime i get in the car. I hope that you are doing ok and I pray for your family all the time and for you, I miss you so much dear and cant wait until I get to say hi to you again. Reply to this
12/4/2008 9:44 AMAndolyn Tillman wrote:
Christmas of 07, my family & I went to Arizona to visit relatives. It being somewhat of a vacation we were planning all the way there what we would do, where we would shop & what the limits would be. Christmas Eve we pulled in at my grandmothers house & didn't even bother to unload anything but the overnight bags with our shampoos & tooth pastes. The day went very well & we fell asleep early that night. The next morning I woke to my mother shaking me saying that i needed to hurry & get dressed. She wouldn't explain why but on the 4 hour drive she finally told all. Apparently my aunts parents & her sister where driving through an intersection & they were t-boned by a semi. The mother died instantly and the other two were taken to the hospital. Both survived, but they both had a long road ahead of them before they could be released from the hospital. I never knew Brittaney. I only heard about this website from the tail end of my brothers truck. He has one of those Buckle Up for Brittaney bumper stickers and everytime he comes home that lime green really stands out from his maroon truck. I just wanted to share my story and to tell Brittaney that you are missed. My brother spoke nothing but good things of you and for him to speak that highly of you, you must have been pretty cool. Can't wait to meet You. C u n Heaven!!! Reply to this
I just wanted to share my story and to tell Brittaney that you are missed. My brother spoke nothing but good things of you and for him to speak that highly of you, you must have been pretty cool. Can't wait to meet You. C u n Heaven!!!