Saturday, March 01, 2008

We interrupt the ramblings of Kristie for the following PSA

The following tragic event happened a few days ago, in our neighborhood, about eight houses down from our house. We did not know any of the children involved, but have taken this opportunity to hammer home a few very important reminders to our own kids (and ourselves):

1. If you are a licensed driver, remember that you NEVER leave a running car unattended.

2. No matter who you are, remember that you never EVER play in, or on, or around, or behind, or Heaven forbid, UNDER a running car.

3. And no matter who you are, but especially if you are a young person who hasn’t yet developed a whole lot of common sense, remember that you never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER for any reason whatsoever, I cannot emphasize that strongly enough, get into the driver’s seat of a running car and start farting around.
(See below)



Metro boy critical after being struck by van

02-29-2008 1:00 AM

(Oklahoma City, OK) --— A 15-year-old boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition after being struck by a church van on Wednesday. About 5:50 p.m., a van belonging to the Church of the Harvest, 6800 North Bryant Ave., in Oklahoma City, stopped in front of a youth pastor's house. "She had stopped to pick up some kids and had gone inside to the restroom and some kids got to messing around inside and outside the van," said officer Jack Jenks of the police department. During the horseplay, a 15-year-old boy had crawled under the van to retrieve some compact discs when a 14-year-old boy got in the driver's seat and put the van in drive, rolling a tire onto the boy and pinning him beneath a wheel. The youth pastor, Kendall K., came outside and backed the van off of the boy, Jenks said. Police would not release the identities of the students. Jenks said the 15-year-old was in critical condition at the OU Health Sciences Center.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reminder.We all need that now and again. I hope and pray ALL those people involved will be OK. I can't imagine the feeling of guilt...

Meg from GA

Anonymous said...

That is so sad. I sure hope the boy will be ok. And the one that moved the van and their youth director. They must be totally torn up. That's a great wake-up-call!

Gayle in AL

Anonymous said...

How sad. We'll keep these children in our prayers. I'm sure the teen "driver" is in need of prayers as is the poor child in hospital.

Unknown said...

These things happen so fast. My prayers for the boy in the hospital.

Monica H said...

Wow, how awful and so sad. I will be praying and hoping that he recovers in good time. I can't imagine...

Anonymous said...

We will keep everyone involved in our prayers. Thank you for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry the van driver needs to be prosecutred for negligence for leaving a van running with kids inside. I don't care how old the kids are. The driver should have known better. What a horrible, tragic event. Thanks for sharing as we all need to periodically remind our kids how to behave.

Tracy said...

My prayers are with all who are involved.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of when we lived in Altus, Oklahoma. I had no children but babysat a little boy who was 4 at the time. His mom and I were on the phone one afternoon. She screamed out, "What? Run over by the truck?!" And hung up on me.
Come to find out, her son went out front, got into her truck and was playing around it it. The truck was not on. Well, he released the brake and the truck began to roll backwards. He freaked and tried to hop out of the car in a panic. Well, when he did this, the car door knocked him over and the front tire of the car rolled over his torso. So actually he was run over by the car. Luckily it was a lightweight truck..and somehow he was only bruised minorly. Someone was watching over him that day.
So, my point here is that any care - not only one that is on is very dangerous for a child to be in alone. Keep cars locked and keys out of reach of even the littlest people!

I hope that the boy in this story recovers. How scary.

Erin

Anonymous said...

I really do think your intentions are good in this post but you do come off as being a bit preachy and judgemental. I'm sure we have all done things without thinking and later said "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea". My thoughts are prayers are with everyone involved.

Kristie said...

Dear Anonymous, a 15 yr old boy lies in critical condition after a series of avoidable mistakes .... and *maybe* that wasn't such a good idea??? I'd hate to see what your definition of a bunch of "bad" ideas would be.

PS. Leave your name next time you call me judgemental, or don't bother commenting.