Adrianna Frances Clemens

January 16, 2002 – October 9, 2004

A Mothers Story about the Life and Death of Her Little Girl

October 9, 2004 started out as a normal Saturday morning in our home.  My son had a few friends upstairs that had stayed over night to celebrate his 6^th birthday.  My husband was in the kitchen that morning preparing breakfast.  Adrianna and I were talking about what mothers and daughters always relate to going shopping.

As the hours went on, the most horrifying and worst nightmare a parent can ever possibly imagine happened.  In less than a moment, I looked down and my precious daughter was gone an image that no mother, no parent, no soul should ever have to see!!  Adrianna was helplessly in the arms of her father.

OOH NO!  NOT ME GOD; PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY DAUGHTER, MY ANGEL.  SHE IS MY PRINCESS. OH GOD PLEASE!  ADRIANNA IS MY LIFE!!”

The death of a child is and always will be the worst tragedy a parent could ever live through.  Half of your soul dies with your child; leaving you paralyzed by knowing that your life, from that day on, will never be the same.

My goal as a parent is to share Adrianna’s story with other parents by informing them about a horrible epidemic that is happening to children every where.  Children under the age of 4 are tragically being killed because they cannot be seen behind the larger vehicles everyone is driving.  These unbelievable tragedies are happening in our own driveways—right outside of our homes.

Manufacturers have been designing vehicles including SUVs, TRUCKS, and MINIVANS with “blind-spots” ranging from 13 to 55 feet!!!  As a result, it is impossible for ANY DRIVER to see what is behind them when they are backing up.

The most chilling fact about this epidemic is that 60% of the time this happens it is a parent who is behind the wheel and they are killing their own children.

Adrianna Frances Clemens died on October 9, 2004.  The most agonizing pain is that Adrianna tragically was backed over by her own father.

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Noah James Dreblow

May 18, 2007, a day that changed our lives forever.

This is the story of Noah James Dreblow, January 27, 2006 – May 18, 2007.

It was a beautiful day that day. A very vibrant 15-month old Noah was at his grandma and grandpa’s house. Grandma was working in her flower garden and Christopher, Noah’s cousin – age 10, and Noah were playing with the basketballs. The driveway was not your typical driveway. It was a long driveway which opened up to a very large area where the basketball goal was located. Grandpa went to move his company van so that the kids could play basketball.

While Grandpa went to move the van, Christopher went into the garage to get another basketball. At that time, Noah went after Grandpa because he liked to ride with him. Grandpa did not see Noah trying to approach him and hit him with the van. The scream that filled the air from Christopher could be heard throughout the neighborhood. Christopher tried to stop Grandpa by beating on the van but Grandpa didn’t hear him. Grandma came running to the van only to see Noah laying there. Noah passed in her arms. Although 911 was called, there was nothing that could be done. Frantic calls were made to Noah’s mother, Erica, Derek, Noah’s dad and to me (Christopher’s mom) from my 13 year old daughter, Shannon. She too came upon the scene only to take Tyler, Noah’s 3 year old brother away from the area of the accident. Noah’s mom and dad arrived from work as fast as they could. Because of the severity of Noah’s head injuries, the medical personnel would not allow Erica and Derek to be with their son. We buried Noah four days later.

The family today is attempting to cope the best we can. The very first year was a difficult year to get through because of all the holidays and birthdays without Noah. Just the wondering of how he would be and how he would have reacted to all these events was just struggle in itself. Erica is expecting another son due in September 2008. Tyler asks about his baby Noah all the time. He misses him dearly. Erica feels he still has a special connection with his little brother spiritually. We know Noah is in a better place and through our faith and trusting in God’s plan, we know we will see him again.

In June 2007, one month after Noah’s death, a friend of the family offered to do a motorcycle ride entitled Noah’s Ride. The contributions went to the reblow family that year. This year, we are gearing up for the Second Annual Noah’s Ride. The proceeds this year will go to Ark Crisis Child Care. Check out Noah’s myspace at www.myspace.com search Noah Dreblow.

Please don’t let this happen to you or anyone you know. Make sure you know where every child is before you even get into your vehicle. Don’t even turn the key until you know that every child is secured and away from the vehicle. This could have been prevented if sensory devices were installed on the vehicle, especially cargo van used by companies.

Aliviah Gridley

On December 30, 2005 we found ourselves in the middle of a parent’s worst nightmare. Our beautiful baby girl had been backed over accidentally by an uncle who absolutely adored her.

Our little princess was born October 24, 2003. She was our youngest child, our second daughter after two energetic boys. She was everything a Father and Mother could want in a daughter. She loved babies and was all girl. She loved her hair bows, shoes, dolls, purses and animals. Especially Kittens. She loved wrestling with her Daddy, singing, and being read to. Most of all she loved people. She did not meet a stranger. There is no way to measure the joy and love she brought in our home. She was the center of our lives.

On that terrible day in December, we had gathered with my husbands’ family in South Carolina to celebrate Christmas. I was inside doing some laundry and Aliviah had just come inside the house with my husband. She climbed up in my lap, gave me a kiss and a hug, told me she loved me and climbed down. That was the last time I held my baby alive.

She went back outside with her Daddy to join the other family members in the yard. Our dogs leashes had gotten tangled so Tim, my husband, had to unhook them to get them untangled. The dogs ran away and my husband ran after them. My husbands’ brother, in an attempt to help, jumped in his truck to go after them. He had to walk behind the truck to get in so there was no one behind the truck when he went to leave. As he backed up with my oldest daughter in the truck, he was checking behind him. Aliviah had been playing on a jungle gym to the left as they were leaving.

As quick as a little one could run, she darted behind the truck before anyone could realize it. Because of blind spots, lack of information, and technology that should have already been installed, our daughter was backed over.

It is too late for Aliviah, but not for your loved one. It is our hope and prayer that our story can prevent this tragedy from happening in some one else’s life. We know that God does not make mistakes, but people do. Car manufactures do. These accidents are preventable. They can happen to the best of parents. Doctors, Firefighters, Teachers, Reporters, and Police Officers have all been parents of children who have died this way. It happened to us, it can happen to you.

Through all this tragedy, God has been so good to us. We must lift up the name of Jesus. Through Him we have the victory. He has been an ever present help in our time of trouble. He has prepared a beautiful place for us to be with Aliviah for all eternity if we trust and obey Him. Through His blood shed on Calvary He delivered us from all our sins. He has been our Rock and High tower. We just can’t praise Him enough.

For Aliviah’s sake: Parents speak out against preventable tragedies
The Cedartown Standard, May 3, 2006

http://www.stopbackovers.org/

Seth McCartney

The burden of being the driver in such a tragedy must be recognized and understood quickly before it combines with the grief of losing a child and tears apart those still living, destroying a marriage, a family.teacher last year. It was titled “The Day my Brother went to Heaven.”

I saw that my brother Seth had been run over by the skid loader. I ran to see if he was OK. When I went to see if he was OK, I knew he wasn’t OK. When I saw that I started to cry. I cried very very hard. I could not stop crying. When my mom and dad told me to go pray, I ran inside and started praying.

Marc, kneeling over his son, knew, through his grief and shock, that his four other children had already seen too much that afternoon, especially the boys. Take them inside, Marc had urged Stephanie. She hurried her other children inside and asked them to pray for Dad while, in the yard, Marc sobbed, carefully placing his own body over that of his young son.

Marc was, illogically, he knows, trying to keep the boy warm. Trying to protect Seth, who hated the wind in his face, from the brisk breeze that stirred up the fresh dirt that still surrounded their new home.

He was telling his boy he was sorry.

Frozen in time: Faith McCartney, 9, holds a picture that she took of her 3-year-old brother Seth before his death in 2003.

Cameron

Cameron’s story is one that every parent must try to learn from. Learn from the preventable tragedy that took place and remember that what happened to Cameron can happen to any child. Learn from Cameron, and his devastated family.

Cameron came into the world as a tough little guy who loved life. From the very beginning Cameron loved action. He loved being tossed into the air, hugged, wrestled with and most of all he loved to play with his older brother, Scott. Although he was much smaller in size and younger in age, Cameron simply loved to play with Scott. They were great together. Scott never hurt Cameron; and always looked out for his best interest. Scott and Cameron were the best of brothers. One of my favorite lines that Scott ever said took place while driving home from the hospital with baby Cameron. We were in our big safe SUV with the children buckled up in the back-seat in their car seats and Scott shouts out, “Now we’re a family.” And there we were the safe American family looking all fashionable in our sporty SUV that we purchased partially because of its’ safety record. Just what any caring parent would do for their precious cargo.

Needless to say, my wife Leslie and I soon learned the hardest lesson we will ever learn and one that will hopefully impact others. Our SUV was anything but the safe vehicle we thought we had purchased. Had we only known about the reality of the large and dangerous blind spot we would have done things very differently.

On October 19, 2002 at 9:30pm Leslie and I had returned from dinner with friends. Cameron and Scott were put to bed earlier but upon returning Cameron heard our voices and called out for us. While Leslie went to pay the babysitter, I could not resist the temptation to go and get the little guy. When I peeked into this room there he was sitting up with a great big smile. I quickly took him out of his crib and brought him downstairs to be with Leslie and myself. After a short while I announced I needed to move the SUV into the driveway for the evening. Cameron stayed inside as he always had done in the past. While driving into the driveway I choose to back into the driveway because each morning the street is filled with children and people walking dogs, etc. As always, I used both side view mirrors and the rear view mirror, as well as looked over my shoulder in an attempt to avoid hitting anything.

Suddenly I noted a small bump with the front wheel and wasn’t sure what it could have been. I knew I was too far from the curb to have hit that; and that there was no newspaper in the driveway. Quickly I jumped from the vehicle and saw the most devastating scene of my life. My little Cameron was lying down with his blanket in his hand while bleeding profusely from his head.

As a physician I knew it was the end. I did everything I could do and so did the paramedics. Cameron had died a sudden and horrible death because he was too small for me to see him behind my vehicle.

This story has happened to too many families and will continue to happen at an alarming rate if we as drivers are not informed about the real danger of driving vehicles with large blind spots.

Our federal government, whose job it is to make sure we have safe vehicles to drive, needs to recognize this all too real problem and begin to inform the public about these dangers, and the automobile manufacturers need to install technology that has proven to be effective and would help warn drivers that something is behind their vehicle before backing up.

Making these changes would help to protect us all; especially innocent children.

Let us all learn from little Cameron, and make the world a safer place.