Trisha Pons

There was nothing unordinary about the day, except that both Abby and I were home from school because we hadn't been feeling well. It was a typical early spring day. It was cold and rainy. Abby was in my room using the computer on and off during the day. In search of certain Webkins she got on e-bay. I remember she spoke about the different prices and about needing a credit card. Abby also did some research on the Dicks Sporting Goods website looking for red baseball cleats. I spoke to Trish on the phone that day. Trish took Abby to her baseball practice. I think I must have dozed off because I didn't hear them leave, but I was awake when my whole family was downstairs discussing where they wanted to go for dinner. I went downstairs at some point and passed by Trish sitting on the stairs. Abby was on the couch by her mommy. I retreated back to my room, and a few minutes later Trish popped her head in to ask how I was feeling and if I needed anything. I could hear that the girls had made a decision about where to go and were getting ready to leave. Austin peeked into my room and said "I love you Grammy". From downstairs I heard my family call out "Bye mom".

Moments later my phone rang. I didn't answer. My phone rang again. I saw that I missed calls from Kris. Worried now, I tried to return her call. When I held the phone up to my ear all I could hear was the sound of sirens and Kris in the background saying "It is really bad. Trish isn't breathing, and no one is waking up". I screamed Kris' name but she didn't hear me. (Apparently she hadn't properly hung up from the call she had just tried to make to me). The phone went dead, and then it rang. A man spoke to me and managed to calm my screaming long enough to tell me where to go. From this point on all I remember is shouting out loud to God as I dressed and got into my car. I could hear the sound of sirens. Before me I saw flashing lights everywhere, and then Trisha's car. I remember thinking how strange that I didn't see the doors on the side of her car and assumed they had been removed. Someone was on the trunk and I realized it was a firefighter. It didn’t occur to me that the back window had no glass. I saw Kris on the other side of the road and then Liz sitting wrapped in a blanket. She had blood on her forehead. She was very confused and kept repeating that she didn’t know what happened. Someone in a black coat was with Kris and Liz. I asked about Abby and Kris said they just took her out of the car and put her in an ambulance. She said Abby had blood on her forehead. Someone came by and said "Everyone has a strong pulse". In my mind I thought everyone in my family was fine. (Not once did I consider that when Kris said that Trish wasn't breathing it meant that she was gone. In my mind at that point CPR was all that was needed and certainly she was fine...) I continued to be worried about Abby. Kris wanted me to ride in the ambulance with her and Austin since she and Liz were being taken to the hospital as well. I left to park my car. By this point it had grown very dark and started to storm. I was running, but I felt like I couldn’t move fast enough. I was drenched by the time I got back to the middle of the intersection and was met by a police officer who held Trisha's purse. He held her license in his hand and asked me to verify her address! He gave me her purse, and someone else handed me Trisha’s Daytona Beach photo album. Still.......I had no clue. I was in complete denial I think. Aimlessly I made it to my sister’s house and we started driving. We didn't really know where we were even going, but her husband called and made us turn around. I was so angry and I shouted at my sister that Dale knows something. He and his step-dad were waiting in the driveway. They told us Trish was gone and Abby needed us. Someone held me in their arms as I screamed, but I know what I was told wasn't really comprehended. It took quite some time before I would accept that my daughter was gone. Even though we were on our way to a local hospital, not Children's, I suppose I didn't allow myself to think that Abby too was gone. It wasn't until someone at the emergency doors (I only remember it was a woman dressed in street clothes) led us to a small room and a doctor appeared that I understood that Abby was gone too! I just remember screaming "Not my Abby". I heard my sister scream too. I couldn't go in to see her, so I waited in that small room while my sister and Dale went to see her. Someone sat next to me. I was asked to take a phone call. It was a man from Miami Valley Hospital. He told me Kris was asking lots of questions and he hoped I could get to the hospital soon. I think I told him that I couldn’t leave Abby, and I thought Dale was on his way to tell Kris and Liz what happened, but Dale was with Abby. I’m not sure, but I don’t think anyone spoke on the way to see Kris and Liz. I think I heard my sister crying in the front seat.

At the hospital where Kris and Liz are I learn that Liz is critically injured, and there is a risk to Kris's unborn child. I also learn that Austin is in critical condition. I could hear everything going on around me, yet I couldn't I couldn't hear anything; I had vision, but I couldn't really see what was before me; I was present, yet I wasn't and then the tears and uncontrollable shaking started. I wasn’t really crying I don’t think, but the tears wouldn’t stop. At some point during the next days at the hospitals I became fully aware of what was happening...and that is when I was consumed by an overwhelming sense of urgency, horror, and a sick feeling beyond my ability to explain…

Many friends surrounded my family during these days as we waited for Liz and Austin to recover and I will be forever grateful…