Last night some old friends of mine were celebrating their eldest son's 7th birthday. They had just pulled into a mall somewhere here in town and were just getting out of their van when another van pulled a quick u-turn in front of the mall. I think they were parked in the space closest to the mall just on the parking lot side of the driveway part that goes between the mall building and the parking lot. Anyways, the guy side-swiped their van and pinned their little boy between his van and theirs.

Poor little Noah was very tiny because he was born with a bad heart defect. He had spent the first year or more in children's hospitals undergoing major surgeries to build him a working heart and then went through several more major surgeries as he grew older. Through it all he was a real fighter and managed to become what many would regard as a "micacle baby".

Although his heart was not normal it was at least enough to sustain him and enable him to grow into a little boy, albeit at a much slower than normal rate. At 7 he was smaller than his 4 year old brother but he was still able to do some physical activities such as playing hockey in a neighbourhood tyke league which he loved to do.

Long story short, Noah's pelvis was broken and he may have also had some other internal injuries. They rushed him into surgery but alas, his poor little heart wasn't strong enough to survive the great trauma his little body had been subjected to. He coded on the operating table and they weren't able to bring him back. There, in the blink of an eye, this wonderful little boy was taken from his loving parents and little brother. What an absolutely horrible, yet so entirely preventable tragedy.

Tears are coming to my eyes as I write this. I feel so terrible for my old friends. I cannot imagine how they are coping with their loss. Oh how I wish I could somehow undo what has been done.

The lesson to be learned here is that it only takes a brief moment of carelessness to cause something absolutely terrible to happen and to destroy someone's life. Please keep this story in mind with you whenever you're out driving. Please be careful !! Never let yourself get so caught up with being in a hurry or whatever that you lose your awareness of what's around you or do rash impulsive things without thinking. Look what can happen if you do. How could you ever live with yourself after having done such a thing ?

For those of you who are religeous or spritual in any way I ask you to say a prayer for little Noah and his parents Andy and Michelle and his little brother Jacob. Even though I haven't seen Andy and Michelle in about 6 years my heart is aching for them and it hurts plenty. I cannot even begin to imagine how much they're hurting at this moment.

I guess I have nothing further to say other than to again urge you all to always drive carefully and keep your wits and good sense about you at all times when you're behind the wheel.

May this find you and yours all healthy and happy,

Roger

Sorry to hear about this Roj. That is really sad.

what a bad week! 1 second of distraction is going to cost me. It could have been much worse. I like to drive fast, and aggressive sometimes, but always try and stay within my limits (which I know!). Figures that the time I actually have an accident is when I'm going along at 48 with the traffic.

Pay attention guys. Not just for the burnouts, and donuts and california lane changes, but all the time. I know I've had some close calls in the past, so I consider myself lucky to get away with a rear ender where no one was hurt.

Peace and well wishes to Noah and his family.

I just heard the report about the accident on the CBC radio news. I may have heard some of the details wrong. They came to me third or fourth hand so it's to be expected that some of the details got skewed before the story got to me. They said on the news that the person who hit him was backing out of a parking stall so I'm not exactly sure of how the accident happened. It doesn't really matter. The point is that a brief instant of carelessnes on somebody's part killed an innocent little kid and has ripped the heart out of a family for good.

Please, always keep Noah in mind and be sure to always drive extra careful, even in parking lots.

Roj

BTW it happened at the strip mall at Heritage & Elbow.

wow roj im so sorry to hear that

Words can never express the loss of anyone close, especially our children.
A tragic event that should be a reminder to everyone just how precious life is.