Tragic

Tommy-ray 09/23/93 - 09/22/96
Andrew 03/28/95 - 09/22/96


Women called today, asked if I had her son who had been killed in a fatality a few hours earlier. I looked to see if we had his body. He never made it to us. Mother was frantic, she was notified via police, yet does not remember where they said he was. She could not comprehend her loss. I took her number and told her that I would find her son for her. What I found was four bodies. Four families had lost their children this morning. Four sets of mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who will always remember 1/17/2010 as the day their brother were killed. These young men had never come through my ED door's, yet I could not just pass the mother off as not my problem. She was lost, confused, and searching for her son. Once I found his remains, I set up transport for her and the other families so that the bodies could be seen at the funeral home of their choice. There are times that working in our profession that I wish we could just wall off all of the bad things that happen. Life and death can be ugly and most times it is. Very rarely do I see someone die in peace. It might be because I work in the ED and not on floor or in hospice.
Today was hard, hearing the mothers voice just brought back memories which I tend to suppress most days.I heard how I felt almost 14 years ago. What I most of sound to like to the ED nurse who took my call.
All of this death today was caused by drunk driving. I do not understand why it is so hard for people to understand that nothing ever good comes from drinking and driving. Today, those families will always remember. They will feel a sense of loss and grieve on this day every year, along with holidays, birthdays, and odd days here and there. Just as I do.