Hard lesson in the duality of man (Now w/ pix)

[Fonzie]

Let me start off by saying that by the grace of God, some miracle, karma, good Chrysler engineering, pure luck, etc.... Everyone's OK

So my wife & sons got hit head-on shortly after 7:00 tonight on the way to the park, by a left of center drunk driver who valued my family so little he immediately proceeded to flee the scene without any concern if he'd killed/injured them. My soon to be 16 year old was driving with his temps, & my 4 year old was in the back, buckled in his car seat. Thank God for that new Ohio law outdating the former 4 years old/40lb rule!

I get the phone call & arrive at the scene to find a plethora of police & fire, & the whole front driver's side corner smashed back to the door, rear door won't open, windshield smashed, tire flat with a rip/tear in sidewall, bent rim, & mirror/door handles completely tore off. Eyewitnesses say his truck looked every bit as bad. Tried to get pix tonight, but wrecker put the car inside, so those'll have to wait 'til tomorrow

I've already pretty much written off society/humanity, & this is the icing on the cake

However.... Here's the other side of the story tonight that makes me tear up with how many people went out of their way to help my family. Turns out guy in truck had just cut a lady off right before he hit & ran my family. She pulled over & stayed to complete a witness report with police, saying my son did nothing wrong & truck guy was left of center. Guy who lives on corner of accident also gave up part of his evening to describe everything to police, & once they caught truck driver, even offered to go with police to ID him for us.

He also told of a white minivan who'd been behind the truck IIRC, who immediately took up pursuit. He said it was glued to the truck's bumper as it sped away. Word came over the radio shortly later, that this couple had followed the guy all the way home, where he ran in the house, after some crazy passing & offroading once he figured out they were on his tail. They then blocked the entrance to his road, & told 911 the address. Cops on the scene dismissed them upon arrival, but dispatcher called back & said perp had come out of the house, & asked the couple to go back & ID him, which they did. This couple then came all the way back to the accident scene to tell us what'd happened & that they caught him.

I go over to shake hands & thank them, & the husband is hugging me! Turns out they almost lost their son several years ago to a drunk driver. Other friends in his car weren't so lucky & didn't make it The wife literally starts shaking as she's telling us about her son & their similar incident

My wife had tried calling me as soon as it happened, then 911, but said she was having a hard time focusing to dial 911, as she was so shaken up. There's a trailer park across the street.... Not a fancy, nice one, but rather older, rundown trailers. My wife said a woman had her head out the trailer window yelling to her that she'd already called 911 & asking if T wanted an ambulance sent out too. Never judge a book by it's cover

All these strangers gave up time out of their evenings tonight to get involved & come together for my family. Had it not been for the tenacity of the couple in the minivan.... Who knows if this guy would've ever been found. Findlay's a relatively small town, but just big enough. They put themselves in possible harm's way for people they didn't even know, & I am eternally grateful! I'm just amazed at how the goodness of people was so evident tonight, & how cynical I've been becoming lately

As it stands..... The police tell me the guy blew a .176.... Over twice the legal limit. He's been charged with OVI, & is spending the night in jail, with his truck being impounded. I think they said his license is pulled too. I got the distinct impression from the officer that this isn't the perp's first rodeo. I'll find out more tomorrow when we get the driver info with his name. Someone will have to tell me where to plug it in at on the web to find out if he's got priors

I'm just dumbfounded about how incredibly lucky myself & our family is tonight; painfully aware of how I could easily be a widower right now, along with burying my eldest & youngest.... Who as I'm typing this, is angelically sleeping on the couch right next to me Those of you who know me & how I am with my kids, know I probably wouldn't ever recover from that one. Just thinking about how close it came has me emotional as I type this

Tell your friends & loved ones what they mean to you.... They can be taken in an instant

No regrets

Edited May 21, 2010 by Fonzie

[CattaniAFJ]

Wow. What a story. I'm glad everyone is okay!

There ARE still some good people out there, just few and far between.

[jbot]

very happy to hear your family is ok, and that there is still some hope for the goodness of people in general.

[skrewloose]

glad your family is ok. Kind of both sides of what people are like in that story. Good some people stepped up to the moment and did the right thing.

[Disclaimer]

Glad your family is OK Fonz

[oldschoolsdime92]

dang fonz, Glad everyone is alright, and im glad everyone took the time to be up standing citizens and help out!

[Big Green Valley]

God has blessed you and may he continue to.

[MarkB]

Having grown up in that area (Kenton to be exact) the people in those surrounding towns are good people. Glad to hear that luck was on your family's side. After reading your story I'll be hugging my two little girls a little tighter tonight as well as my wife.

Again, glad everyone is ok.

-Mark

[OsuMj]

Glad everyone is ok. Its interesting when something bad happens that could have been a lot worse. It always makes you realize how much those people mean to you.

[MidgetTodd]

On a good note, now you can use the ins money and get a new bike.

[RSVDon]

Holy shit Fonz! Glad to hear your family is safe, that's a horrible thing to go through. What was your family in? Offset frontal is probably one of the worst impacts.

[Cdubyah]

Wow, scary stuff.

I'm glad everyone is OK Fonz.

[fusion]

Whoa. Glad to hear they are all OK man.

[Tony07R6]

Happy to hear your family came out OK. For the most part, people suck nowadays, but its nice to hear that there are still some good ones out there that are willing to help out.

[timotheus]

praise the Lord.....im glad everyone is ok

[TopGun]

Glad to hear your family is ok and I am glad they caught they azzhat!!

My kids got to witness a drunk driver who was turning into his drive, collide with a motorcyclist and watch the rider fly up in the air and land straight on his head. My Six year old hands me my helmet every time I get on the bike since then.

[jporter12]

Ya know, there really are more good people out there than we may think. Look at how many people jumped to help out, and to do the right thing in a time of need. I also think society is pretty well screwed up, but when I read stuff like this, I realize that we just may not be as bad off as I once thought.

I'm happy to hear that everyone is ok, of course that's the first, most important concern. Someone was looking out for them!

[chevysoldier]

I'm so glad your family is alright. A parent should never have to bury a child. There we angels watching over you guys. I'm glad the drunk driver was caught. I hope he doesn't just get off with a slap on the wrist.

[Hwilli]

Sorry you had to deal with that type of situation, but super glad everyones ok.

[NinjaNick]

I'm glad they're alive and well Fonz. As you said about never being able to recover if you lost them; I agree. I wouldn't care to live anymore and it would be hard to fake that I'm happy. I'm glad your family is still together and not torn apart by this piece of shit.

[RSVDon]

That's one helluva first wreck for a 16 yo. How's he taking it?

[hollywood3586]

wow, i teared up as I'm reading this, i could never imagine losing my daughter to something like that. I'm glad everyone is ok.... As far as there being good people out there, when something like that happens people come together to help each other out. I am one who will follow a drunk driver if i fear someone being hurt. Iv done it before. But again I'm glad everyone is OK. Your poor son is probably scared shit-less to drive anymore....lets hope he tells his friends and by word of mouth i hope it makes a difference for at least one kid to not drink and drive..

[Uncle Punk]

I am sorry to hear about your family’s accident and hope they can come away from it with a lesson or two to keep themselves safe and others. I know they were not at fault but a teenage boy can get wild at times, hopefully this will make him think before he does. I know as a teenager I would drink and drive all over town with my friends and never thought of the consequences. It is scary to think what could have happened, this should make you appreciate having them around even more because that thought brings you to the realization of how much they all mean to you.

I lost my father to a drunk driver and people who were there went above and beyond to help at the accident all they could.

A nineteen year old kid had been drinking and wanted to get his girlfriend a birthday present so he gets into his car to drive to the mall passing every car and truck he came too along the way. The accident happened on highway 27 in Spring City, Tennessee where my dad had semi retired to three years prior. The area is hilly and this kid passes a truck going uphill in a no passing zone, he hits my father and his wife head on at the top of that hill. No one had time to react; there were no skid marks or maneuvering to avoid an accident just boom head on. This happened in 1993 my father was 51 at the time both he and his wife were not wearing their seat belts. They came from a different time where they didn't wear them and I still believe he would have survived the accident if he had been wearing his. My father was driving a full size pickup truck and the kid was driving a small Ranger pickup. Both trucks caught on fire and everyone had some degree of burns on them before they were pulled from the vehicles.

The semi the kid was passing had an extinguisher in the truck and the driver managed to get the fire back enough to get the kid out of the Ranger. He couldn't get to my dad's truck because of the way the road was blocked by the accident.

There were two cars traveling behind my father both of them were from out of state traveling on vacation. They were able to get my father out but his wife was trapped by the engine being pushed back and it had her legs pinned against the bench seat. One of the guys goes back to his car, gets his tire iron out and is forced to break her leg to get her out or watch her die by being burned up. This was very dangerous to be doing not knowing if things were going to explode any second. That break saved her life because soon after the entire truck was up in flames.

My father died in the helicopter ride to the hospital. His wife survived but has limited mental capacity and went through years of physical therapy. The kid who hit them was in the hospital for a long time and after his parents insurance paid for his medical bills he was sent to jail for 1-1/2 years.

Don't drink and drive and wear your seat belts everyone.

[Cheech]

I'm glad they're alive and well Fonz. As you said about never being able to recover if you lost them; I agree. I wouldn't care to live anymore and it would be hard to fake that I'm happy. I'm glad your family is still together and not torn apart by this piece of shit.

This right there.

[timotheus]

really sorry to hear your story UP, the Lord be with you and your family