IN MEMORY OF MY SON
By Kelly Crawley
On Jan.30, 2007, around 7:00pm, my family and I were driving home from my mother- in -law’s house. We were on a back road out in the country about a mile and a half from our home. I was looking around for deer. Then, all of the sudden, I heard my husband say, “Hang on!”, so I put my arms around my son and hung on tight. He was sitting by the door.
My husband lost control of our truck and it started to go on its side. Then it started to roll. I heard the windows begin to break. The truck started throwing us around. I remember hearing it drag the road. I saw on the last roll my son going out the passenger side window and I tried to get a hold of him but I couldn’t because the impact was so strong.
After we finished rolling and the truck stopped, I was sitting up like nothing had happened. I started looking around without moving. I saw my husband and daughter lying over on the driver’s side, knocked out. I started looking for my son. He was nowhere to be seen. Then I started screaming out loud, “Where is our son?” After I screamed that about three or four times my husband started moving around. I looked at him and screamed, “Where is Bubby?”
My husband climbed out the front window on to the hood and jumped down on to the road and started looking for our son. We were hoping that he would be in the field or on the side of the road. My husband was shouting his name out loud. Then he started back to the truck, still looking. I looked up and my husband was in front of the truck and he had a look on his face; a look that no mother would ever want to see. He screamed, “Oh God no, get out here and help me!”
I started trying to get out of the truck. I tried the door and it would not open. I went out the window. As soon as I got on the ground, I saw my son lying under the front passenger tire. I started screaming, “Get this truck off of him!” I wished that it was me under the tire instead of my son. I tried to help get the truck off of him, but I couldn’t. So I got the cell phone and called 911, and told them that we had a bad wreck and the truck was on my son.
The first responder got there and called the life flight off and tried to help get the truck off of Bubby. They asked me to pull my son’s legs when they told me to. I tried but I could not move him.
The next thing that I remember is seeing all of the lights. I started running to them telling them to get that truck off of my son. They kept me back there so I would not see any more than what I had already seen. They wanted me to go on to the hospital but I wouldn’t leave my son. I told them that I was going with my son. Finally, they got me to lie down and they tied me down and took my daughter and me on to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital they asked my daughter to help calm me down or they may lose me. They were afraid that I would go into a state of shock. All that I was doing for about four and a half hours was screaming, “I want my son!” They said that they had to take care of me first. Finally, they came in and told me that my husband had gotten there, but they still would not tell me anything about my boy.
After they checked my husband out, he came in to me with tears in his eyes. He told me that Bubby did not make it; he was gone.
As you probably can tell, none of us were wearing our seat belts.

Sometimes in a wreck I think the seat belts would save a life. However, this is not a simple issue because in other wrecks, the seat belt could get you killed. This complicated issue is what I want to talk about.
As an adult, you should have the choice to wear your seat belt or not. For instance, if I was wearing my seat belt it would have broken my neck. I was not, so I think that’s why I made it. I am an adult and I decided not to wear my seat belt.
For a child, I think no matter what, they should have to wear theirs. A child likes to move around or try to stand up. If you had a wreck with them doing that, one of two things could happen. They’re going to get thrown around a lot. From that, they could have cuts, bruises, broken arms, or legs or something really bad like getting thrown out the window. That could turn into a nightmare because they could die.
I know kids like to fight with you about wearing their seat belts and get mad sometimes, but let them. All you are doing is saving their lives, and showing them that you love them and want to keep them safe.

The government should not tell an adult that they should wear their seat belts. They really don’t know if it would save your life or not. Every wreck is different. This is a complicated story for me. I have lived through this and I know now if I would have made sure that my son was in his seat belt he would still be here with me. Like I said in the story, when we were rolling, I saw my son going out the window. That was the hardest thing that I could have seen. If he would have had his seat belt on, there is a chance that I may not have had to go through the loss of my son. He might still be here with me.
I guess all that I’m trying to say is a child should, no matter what, have their seat belt on. For us adults, we should have a choice to wear them, and not have someone telling us that we have to wear them.
As I’ve tried to explain, this is a complex issue. In real life, things are seldom black and white. I believe that there should be two different standards for seat belt use. Adults should be able to choose for themselves, whether or not to wear them. Kids should be required to buckle up.
It’s impossible to tell whether the seat belt will help or hurt in any certain wreck, so it becomes an issue of age appropriate rights rather than an issue of safety.
Grown-ups: Do what you think is the best.
Children: Buckle up!!