August 9, 2010

TOBY’S STORY

Filed under: Stories — Tags: Truth Stories — Your Bumper Guardian @ 7:47 am

Why it is happening repeatably? Could we put a stop on it…

TOBY’S STORY

Toby James Riley was born July 10th 2007. He was a beautiful, healthy baby. He has two older siblings, Harmony 8, and Odin 2. In the 13 months we had him he was always so happy. He never cried, and I never let him out of my sight. I was always holding him. I even breastfed him until the day we lost him.

August 25th 2008 we were camping with friends. It was our third day there. I had been a little worried about taking them but we were all having a great time. That morning I was saying how perfect everything was. I was so happy. We even had decided we would come back the following weekend.

I was holding Toby while I watched my other 2 children get in our car. Their dad was about to get in to go get ice. Toby was acting hungry so I put him down in a fenced in area right in front of our friends trailer with their little boy. I looked over my shoulder into the car at my other children and they were both in their seats. Jason was on the other side of the car finishing up with something. The car wasn’t running. I turned my back for 10 seconds to get the bottle.

Next thing I hear is screaming. I turn around and see the car backing up. I start yelling to stop. I see are friend in the driver seat. I keep telling him to stop. He does and I ask were all the kids are at. As I’m asking I look down and see Toby in front of the back tire. In my mind I’m thinking it can’t be him, he’s behind me with are friends son. I picked him up and started screaming that he’s dead. Then it seemed like he took a breath. We raced to the front of the camp site where they called the ambulance. I waited in the office holding him trying to help him breath while he was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Someone came up and checked his eyes and I could tell by the look on their face it wasn’t good. He wasn’t responding at all. The ambulance came and they care flighted him to the hospital. We couldn’t go with so we had to drive the 4 hours to the hospital. When we got there he had been dead for 3 hours. He was gone.

I guess in that ten seconds he had climbed out of the fence while my 2 year old got in front and hit the shift putting the car in reverse. Their dad had accidentally left the keys in the car. He never does that. Our friend saw the car rolling back and had jumped in to stop it. No one saw Toby.

I wanted to post my story in hopes that other parents can relate who have lost their beautiful children and together maybe we can stop this from happening. I see parents leave their children in the car all the time. We are not bad parents. There were four adults right there. A few seconds is all it takes and it can’t be undone.

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June 29, 2010

Jacob

Filed under: News,Stories — Tags: Truth Stories — Your Bumper Guardian @ 7:03 am

Jacob

By Jeff Libby, February 21, 2005
It was before 1 p.m., and his family’s housewarming party wasn’t until later Saturday night. He just needed to run back to the store to buy one last thing: balloons.

The 35-year-old tile contractor and father of four closed the tailgate to his 1997 Ford F-150 and hopped in the driver’s seat. He didn’t have to check the mirror before pulling out because he had backed into the driveway.

But as he pulled forward, the truck ran over and killed his youngest child, 22-month-old Jacob.

” I just didn’t see him,” a shaken Mills said Sunday, surrounded by family and friends at his Shawsbury Way home.

Inside the home’s vaulted living room, Mills sat on the floor at the feet of his wife, Cheryl, and buried his head in her lap, sobbing as she talked about how Jacob was learning his first words and still called just about everyone, including his father, “Momma.”

” He was a beautiful, precious boy,” said Cheryl Mills, 40, general manager for U.S. Rep. Ric Keller’s Orlando offices. Dark-haired and dimpled, Jacob was always happy, family members said.

” He was just so sweet with his chubby cheeks,” said Dawn Chitwood, one of Jacob’s aunts who lives just a five-minute walk away. “He smiled when you took his binky [pacifier].”

His family moved from Orlando into the five-bedroom home in January, partly for the increased room for Jacob.

The Millses have three other boys, Anthony Santos, 18, Nicholas Santos, 14, and Garrett, 8. The boys’ parents were too distraught Sunday to begin arrangements for Jacob’s funeral, but the couple said their children were handling the loss well.

” They’re stronger than we are,” Donald Mills said. Donald Mills is far from alone in feeling the pain of accidentally running over a child. Jacob was one of a growing number of children killed in slow-speed accidents in their driveways, according to the advocacy group Kids and Cars, which blames the increasing popularity of large vehicles that also have large blind spots.

” So sad, so predictable, so preventable. I mean, this fits the mold,” said Janette Fennell, director of the Leawood, Kan.-based Kids and Cars. “These children don’t have the cognitive ability to understand that even though they can see the truck, Daddy can’t see them.”

The federal government does not track such deaths, but at least 26 children nationwide were killed from 2000 to 2004 in similar accidents involving vehicles moving forward in driveways and parking lots, according to Kids and Cars. Just as with Jacob’s death, most of the vehicles were driven by close relatives or family friends.

Still more kids, at least 302, were killed during the span by vehicles that backed over them, according to the group, which is pushing for regulations to force car makers to do more to protect children.

Many of the accidents parallel Jacob’s death in that the family is doing something out of the routine, and the driver loses track of where the children are, Fennell said.

Jacob had been eating fruit and a hot dog for lunch when his father pulled up with the party supplies. Jacob left his food to help bring things in, a new thrill for the youngster, Cheryl Mills said.

” He was being very helpful, being one of the guys,” she said.

Cheryl Mills was vacuuming in the living room. Neighbors in the lakeside neighborhood heard her husband’s screams and then hers.

Several people called emergency officials, including Jacob’s brother Nicholas, who ran down the street to a neighbor’s house after seeing his brother lying still on his side in the driveway.

An ambulance rushed Jacob to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City. He was pronounced dead at 1:59 p.m.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday its investigation continues but charges are unlikely.

That’s of little consolation to Donald Mills.

” Tell parents to stop getting so busy with their lives, to spend more time with their kids,” Mills said, “because I’m not going to get to spend any more time with my kid.”

But as he pulled forward, the truck ran over and killed his youngest child

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May 18, 2010

COLIN WALMINSKI

Filed under: Stories — Tags: Truth Stories — Your Bumper Guardian @ 5:53 am

by Patty Pensa, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Why it is happening again and again….

COLIN WALMINSKI

My only child Colin died Nov 1st 2006, He was 7 years old and a wonderful, bright, energetic little boy. He loved all animals, we had 2 dogs, a cat, 2 guinea pigs, 3 lizards, and hermit crabs, but his favorites were birds. He loved everything about birds, didn’t matter the size color he was amazed by all of the. He had a huge collection of these small stuffed birds from Wild Republic that made the real bird sounds of that bird. He was so excited about his collection and he was always showing them off to everybody and was always trying to do good so we would take him to the store to get more. He would go to the library at school or our town public library and he always got a different bird book. He would have his 1st grade teacher read them to the class and as a class he help share his love of birds by helping his classmates learn about them.

Colin was killed while he was walking home from school with his fellow friends to the babysitter’s house. He was on the sidewalk and while walking with no warning he was hit by a Cadillac Escalade that was backing out of their inclined driveway. Everything was done but to the best of the paramedics’ and hospital staff he didn’t make it. Colin’s dad and I were at work that day about 45 minutes away. When we got the phone call we flew to the hospital but it felt like an eternity to get there. On the way to the hospital I prayed but at the worst I thought he would have a few broken bones, On the way we were in contact with the cops, and his principle (she had rode in the Ambulance with him) I never would have imagined I was going to lose him. As soon as we arrived we were taken to a small room by the ER and shortly the doctor came in. He didn’t have to speak he just looked down and we knew. They said they tried everything but he was gone.

However as much as an accident that they said it was, I believe it could have been prevented. All of the things you shouldn’t do when driving a big SUV or even a small car at that were done that day. Backing up over a sidewalk, on a street where everyday at that time children were walking home. The SUV also had a back up sensor but it was turned off. There was another vehicle parked in the driveway blocking any view that Colin could have had to see the SUV backing up or for the driver to possible see him.

The driver was found guilty of unsafe backing and had to pay an undisclosed fine. I know in my heart it was an accident but I also know that it could have been prevented if the driver was more aware of the dangers that are involved with SUV’s.

Today he is missed more then ever, not a day or even a minute goes by that he is not thought about. I spread the word as much as I can about the dangers of SUV’s and tell my story. This web site kids and cars .org is a great way to help get the word out.

After losing her daughter, West Boca mom on mission to make safety sensors standard

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