His name was Ben. He was 16 years old when he died. I remember the day like it was the back of my hand.

I had a really good day and when I got home from school I got ready for a softball game in Winona. The game was at 7:00 and we had to be there at 6:35 to get warmed up. I loaded my stuff in the back of the trailblazer then went back inside to get the cooler ready. I finished loading the car then we all got in the car. (In the very back on the passenger side was my sister, Jasmine and on the driver’s side was a family friend Kirsten Loman. In the middle on the driver’s side was my brother, Colton. In the middle was my little brother, Kayden and on the passenger side was me, Rose. In the front was my dad, Calvin, driving and my mom, Melissa, in the passenger seat). From our house it is a 50 min. drive to Winona, so we left the house at 5:00.

We got to Mt. View to let my grandma, Nanna, follow us to the game. We left Mt. View and started to Winona again. We were on highway 60 just about to the city limits of Winona when my dad kicked off the cruse on the car and we were coasting down the hill. We passed through the city limits of Winona and we were about to cross an intersection where you can turn around. My mom looked back at us because Kirsten was playing with Kayden. My mom turned around and yelled, “Calvin”. My dad swerved hit the brakes and the truck slammed in to us.
The truck hit us on the driver’s side door and it slammed up against us fishtailing. The truck flipped and it sent us airborne (when we went airborne I laid over my little brother). We landed past some big rocks and dad coasted us down the steep ditch he coasted the car away from some pine trees. We stop at the bottom of the ditch. Everyone is screaming. Dad jumps out of the car. He tries to open Jades door and goes to the back of the car he walks back to his door jumps back in the car turns the engine off gets back out of the car tries to open Jade’s door again. Then he gets back in the car and finally turns off the key. Everyone is getting out of the car. I give Kayden to mom and IU move the seat so Jasmine and Kirsten can get out. Mom hands Kayden to Jasmine. I help Kirsten out of the car and we see she is bleeding everywhere. We get in the back hatch and an EMT without a shirt asks us if ere all alright. We shut the back hatch and we start walking up the hill. Dad was calling Rick Fugate to tell him to tow our car. We were about ¼ of the way up the hill and Dad passes us. We finally get to the part where we went airborne and Kirsten trips on a big rock. I grab her arm in a death grip and literally push her up the hill we got to the concrete and mom took Kirsten to the ambulance to get a towel for her mouth.
The mayor’s wife came up to us and asked us if we wanted to sit in the mayors’ car. We went to sit in my grandmas’ car instead. When I sat down I found out my hips hurt. My mom sat on a trailer and she told the EMT her leg hurt. My dad sat on the concrete and the EMT was fixing his arm and he said his knee hurt. Dad got strapped on to the back board first. After he was strapped down the EMT’s took him to the middle of the road. An EMT came to my grandmas’ car and he took my sister, Kayden, and Jade to mom and some more EMT’s came to where I was sitting caring a back board, an oxygen tank, straps, neck brace, and a medical bag. They laid me on the back board and they put the stiff neck brace on my neck. They put the oxygen tube in my nose then they strapped me down. Hannah Duncan came over to talk to me then she left and her sister came over. Nikki gave my Hannah’s iPod. Nikki left and then some more EMT’s came over and lifted me up and took me to the black top. The ambulance came and the helicopter landed and then took off. Then they loaded my dad in the ambulance and then they loaded me. We was talking and my Dad said, “You know what the scary part is, I had a dream about watching NASCAR “open road” and were racing and the pace truck hit us and our engine grounded out and we went in a huge ditch and got in an ambulance and I kept asking you to push the pillow under my head.” Dad asked Lou (The EMT) to push a pillow under his head.

We got to St. Johns/St. Francis hospital in Mt. View and they unloaded me first and as they took me out of the back of the ambulance I could hear my aunt Heather talking Cash, and my uncle Clay and uncle Chipper laughing. I got in room number 2 and the Dr. started taking off the straps on the back board. He put me on the hospital bed and my aunt came in. We went to the bathroom and I changed in to the hospital gown. When I came back to the room my dad was in his room, Kirsten and Jade were in rooms and Mom, Jasmine, and Kayden were just arriving. I got back in the bed and the X-ray technician came with a wheelchair he took me to get X-rays. When I was done getting X-rays he took me back to my room and I got back in bed. The nurse came and she took my vitals. She left and my aunt Nikki came in and asked me if I wanted to play Gina’s Nintendo. I finished a level on New Super Mario Brothers Nintendo Ds 64 before the Dr. Came in and said my X-rays were all clear, and he released me. I got dressed and went to check on everyone else. I went to mom’s room and Kayden was all over the bed. Jasmine came in and sat down on mom’s bed then Kirsten came in and Mom came back from getting x-rays. Grandma said, “Your Dad is getting stitches”. Me and Nana went outside and waited for everyone to get released and why’ll we were waiting half of my ball team came and made sure we were all ok and they said we won our game 4 to 16. Mom and Dad came out of the hospital and the first thing Dad said, “Is did we win?” We got home around midnight and slowly went to bed. The next morning Mom told me that the passenger in the truck had died. Through the phone calls we got I found out his name was Ben. The paper said Ben had moved here from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina had destroyed their home. They came in search of a new life.