It was Wednesday October 14,1998.I had allowed Justin to ride to school that day with one of his friends.Justin was so excited,for one day he didn't have to ride the "stupid" school bus as he called it.Justin left that morning with his usual words which were "Lova-Lova",Mom.That was how he told me he loved me.I said the same back to him.Out the door he went, for his ride had arrived.He was good friends with the driver,but BEST friends with the driver's brother.They were with each other every spare moment they had.They were either here hanging out,down to their friend Charley's camp(which they all considered everybody's camp),or up to his best friend's house.So off they drove,Justin,the driver and Justin's best friend(the driver's brother).My day went on as normal.I was helping my sister-in-law paint her dining room ceiling,it was heading towards 1:00 pm,so I decided to go back home and finish my housework,and Justin would be home shortly after 3:00 pm.BUT Justin never came home.The phone rang at 3:45 that afternoon,there was a lady on the other end who was hysterical telling me there had been an accident and Justin was involved.
Right off the bat I knew who this lady was,I asked her if he was ok,she said she didn't know,but the driver was there at her house,I then told her I would be right there,hung the phone up,called my Mom and told her what happened and asked her to drive me up to the lady's house,she said she would be right here.I told my other 3 children Jessica and Janelle (twins) age 11,and Jordan age 10 to run over to their Uncle Jeff's,and tell him what happened and to stay there until I got back.As we were all running out the door,the drivers's Mom pulled in,and I got in with her,my Mom was coming up the road at the same time.We arrived at this lady's house to find the driver sitting at the kitchen table,we asked him where Justin and his brother was and he said still in the truck,we asked him where,he said on the road across from this lady's house,it was the Stuckie Road,so out the door we went,we jumped back into the car,and went to go out of the driveway and there was a truck sitting there,we went around him.He was sitting there waiting for the ambulance and the police to arrive,then he was right behind us as we drove upon my WORST nightmare.
The truck was wrapped around a utility pole from the passenger's side.We jumped out of the car,and went running to the truck,the guy that was in the truck tried to stop me as I was going on the passengers side just knowing thats where Justin was,my son,who was only 14.I pushed past him and there was Justin and his best friend,stuck in the truck,the pole was sitting right on Justin's lap he could not move,I was crying so hard by then,I was rubbing his arm telling him he was going to be ok,that help was on it's way,he was saying,and his only words he was saying were,(so and so)"SLOW DOWN",he repeated that 3 times,I knew then what had caused it,and my heart broke in half,for I knew he saw it coming.I looked at his best friend and he was laying down towards the driver's side.I yelled to him and asked if he was ok,he said yes,thats all he said.
The next thing I knew was I was being told to back away,the help had arrived.I backed away and looked up and there was an ambulance and some State Troopers pulling up,and behind them was my brother Jeff.I ran to him,pleading with him to help Justin,he said he would.As I was standing back watching everything going on,it began to rain,I was crying hysterically and shaking from being so cold.I remember somebody walking up to me and hugging me,and saying I should go sit in my brother's truck,cause the help had arrived and they would get him out SOON.I did what he said,I went and sat in Jeff's truck,watching and praying that God would help Justin and his best friend.As I was in the truck lots more fire company's showed up,state troopers,ambulances,and people all over the place.I thought to myself they should be able to get them right out of the truck,little did I know how wrong I was.For starters the wrong power company was called in to shut down the power to the pole.When they got there,they checked everything out,wires were hanging down,or should I say drooping down,they were not touching the truck.If they would of,I would of been hurt by leaning on the truck to touch Justin.Well that was another worry of theirs.Now comes LIABILITY,since the wrong power company was called in,they would not touch the pole,they said to wait until the OTHER power company arrived.
Now when there is a life and death situation,one should not worry about LIABILITY,they should worry about giving Justin his "GOLDEN HOUR"that he much truely deserved,not worry about getting their butts sued off.My brother along with numerous other people were willing to climb that pole and take that risk of shutting the power down and worry about LIABILITY later.BUT they were told,they are not allowed too,the other power company has to be called in to do that.So thinking that the other power company would be coming right along,they all stepped back,the ambulance crew was trying to make Justin as comfortable as possible.They got his best friend out of the truck within 15 to 20 minutes and took him to the hospital.He was pinned underneath Justin's legs.I was so happy for Josh,and crying so hard for Justin.He was bleeding so bad,they were giving him blood while he was in the truck.Justin was hurt worse than what anybody realized.The State Troopers called for the Helicopter.The helicopter landed in the field next to the truck,and actually had to shut down cause it was taking so long to get him out of there.After the second power company finally arrived,and the power was shut down,the next thing was how were they going to get the pole lifted off Justin.
And again,many people offered many ideas,and to get LOCAL equipment to lift the pole.BUT no we can't do it that way,we must call a boom truck from a town that is 15 MILES away from us.Now lets wait some more.I sat in the truck getting madder and madder and crying more and more,begging God to let him live,.The boom truck finally arrived,the pole was lifted off from him,people were running everywhere,grabbing this and that.Justin was FINALLY pulled out of the truck.The helicopter had started.From the time the accident happened until they got him out Justin had to have all new blood,he lost all of his own.Time of the accident 3:15 pm.Time he was finally in the air being taken to the hospital was 6:15pm.
After they put Justin in the helicopter,my brother and I came home.I told Jessica,Janelle and Jordan that Justin was not ok,they all began to cry.I gave them all a hug and told them he would be ok,highly believing that myself.They stayed with Uncle Jeff,and I went with my sister-in-law Sandy and my Mom to the hospital.It was an hours drive away.When we arrived I went to the desk to ask about Justin,they were all messed up.For starters they did not know his name,I told them his name like 3 times.Finally they found him on their computer.They were told he was the driver and he was 16,I was getting ready to scream.I nicely said,NO,he is 14,he was a PASSENGER.So they finally wrote all that down,and told me to go in this room to wait for the doctor,and that he would be right with us.An hour later he came in.He introduced himself,and said he was gonna be very straight forward.His words to us were,Justin had a better chance of dying than living.Our hearts broke in half that moment.He proceeded to tell us his injuries,and the reasons he would not make it.The one main factor at that point was the loss of all his blood,he got so cold that his body was not warming his new blood up so it could clot.
As for the internal injuries from the pole,he had to many to even start listing.He had a head injury also.Both of his legs were mangled.After he told of us his injuries,he went back to work some more on him.We had asked him if we could see him,he said no,not yet.So we were put in this waiting room,and when he found anything else out he would come out and talk to us.Time went by real slow.I sat there and prayed and prayed that God would perform some kind of miracle.Around 1:00 am the doctor came back in,he said it did not look good,the blood was still not clotting and his heart had stopped,and they brought him back.I knew then this was the end.My son Justin who was only 14 was going to die.My Mom had the hospital staff call the priest in.When he arrived he had not seen Justin yet.He was telling us all about Ronald McDonald house,and when Justin was recovering we could stay there and so on.Then he went in to see Justin.He came back out,and his total attitude had changed.He said we must pray for him.We prayed some more,and the doctor came out again,Justin's heart had stopped again,but the one good sign was it started on it's own.He was pleased with that.Well there was my little sign of hope I wanted.I then thought maybe he is going to make it,he's tough,he can show them.After that they allowed us to see him.And to be honest with you all,I could not go in.And I dread that now more than ever.If I could go back in time I would of went in.
Actually if I could go back in time I would of told him,that he could not of rode to school that day.My husband,Mom,sister-in-law and Aunt went in to see him.And the looks on their faces when they came out told me everything.After that his heart stopped again,and they brought him back.By this time it was around 7:00,they came out and said he wouldn't last much longer.He could not keep going on with his heart stopping and going.Justin tried so hard to live,but at 8:00 am he died.I then knew I had to go see him,and when I walked in the room to see how he looked,my breath was taken away,he did not look like Justin.My oldest son was gone.And it was all due to wreckless driving and speeding.It was also because he was denied his "Golden Hour".LIABILITY was more important instead of a life.When we went to leave the hospital I asked the doctor,what would of happened if he was extracted from the truck sooner than what he was,and he said that would of increased his chance for survival greatly.We do not know how severe his hit on the head was,I have not asked yet.We do know he would of had both legs cut off,cause the pole mangled them.As for the other injuries if he would of survived,we don't know about that either.One day I will ask to see everything.Our lives will never ever be the same again.Our hearts are broke.We miss him more and more everyday.
Not being able to see him laugh,smile,or hear him talk or just plain pick on his brother and sisters and cousins is killing us.I have a little advice for you folks that know someone that has lost a child,PLEASE do not turn your backs on them,they need you now more than ever.Thank you very much for reading "How Justin Became Our Angel".