Samantha's Story

(As told by her cousin.)

     First I want to start with a little background information. Sam was the youngest of three girls born to my aunt and uncle. My aunt basically raised me and I continued to live with them off and on throughout my first 18 years. (I am 23 now). My aunt and uncle were the nicest people you could ever want to meet. My uncle, for as long as I can remember, was always sick with some ailment. When he was 5 years old he was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis and was told he would not live past 18. My aunt and uncle were married in 1971. The girls were born in 1973, 1977 and then Sam was born February 24, 1983.  In 1976 my uncle was burned from his head to his waist while burning trash outside. Third degree burns that left him scarred the rest of his life. He also suffered a massive heart attack the same year. By the time Sam was born, my aunt had basically turned her life into taking care of my uncle. In 1991 he had a 5-way bypass. Starting in 1992, he suffered many mini strokes. In 1993 he developed a boil in his groin area that developed into gangrene. In 1994 he had double hip replacements and either 1994-1995 he suffered from a broken neck and was in a halo for 2 1/2 months. He has suffered many heart attacks, which I guess resulted in congestive heart failure. He was told his heart was the size of a soccer ball. He also had arthritis in 99% of his body, as well as diabetes. In December of 2000, he was able to walk his middle daughter down the aisle at her wedding. In March of 2001 he lost his left leg from the knee down and November of 2001 he lost his right leg. He had one artificial leg made and was determined to get his other one because he wanted to be able to walk his baby daughter down the aisle when she decided to get married.
      You see, my uncle has ALWAYS been a fighter. No matter what. My aunt dedicated her life to taking care of him and their girls. Our family never had much money, but we knew that it was love that held our family together.
My uncle was having a real hard time with his heart this year. He was in and out of the hospital, mostly in. On May 17, 2002, he was in the hospital. My aunt usually stayed with her oldest daughter when he was in the hospital. At this time only Sam still lived at home, but she was your typical teenager and the weekends usually found her out with her friends. Her and my aunt were best friends. Sam told her everything and kept not many secrets from her. On this night, Sam had made plans to go out with friends. My aunt was staying with her oldest daughter.
     Sam had been seeing this guy off and on for about 2 years. She was crazy about him. He had cheated on her and lied to her and hurt her so many times. She used to call me crying over him. Still she did not want to be without him. My aunt and uncle disliked him. They knew he was no good and that he had hurt Sam repeatedly. It got to the point that Sam was sneaking around to see him. She happened to see him that night.
     They left a group of friends from a gas station around 3:15 am the morning of May 18. He was driving his car when they left. They had been partying and drinking. They got on the Interstate and the driver decided he wanted to speed. A police officer clocked them at going 114 mph. He started his pursuit with his lights on. But the driver decided he did not want to stop. So he sped up. The officer followed them off the interstate and onto a road about a mile from Sam's house. He lost them a couple of times, as the driver was continuing to speed. When he lost them the second time, he decided to end his pursuit. When he got to the end of the road he saw all kinds of debris in the road. He shined his light into a nearby field and saw that the car had went up into the field (a cow pasture) and had overturned. He saw a male figure (the driver) climb from the car and start to run. He went to follow and came across Sam. She had been ejected from the car some 45 feet and had hit a tree stump. He called for back-up and she was pronounced dead at the scene. They found the driver 45 minutes later hiding in a creek overhang.
     The driver pleaded the 5th and refused a breathalyzer. He was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries, which were only scraps and scratches. We later learned he had "road rash" on his left arm. (From the driver's side). He refused to give any information about Samantha at first. They had her down as an unidentified white female. When he found out that she had not made it, he then gave them information to be able to get in touch with my aunt and uncle.
At the hospital he told police that Sam had been driving. The police had to get a search warrant for his blood. He was tested some 5 hours later for alcohol and by then it was too late. He did not test over. He said he had not been drinking.
Come to find out he was driving on a suspended also with no insurance. The worst thing I have ever had to do was go to the hospital to tell my uncle that his baby girl was dead. And that a guy that he disliked had caused it.
     The whole family went to the hospital that night. My aunt and the 2 girls went in first to tell him and not even 3 minutes later we were all called in. He kept saying that it should have been him to die first because he had been so sick all the time. Her funeral was 3 days later. My uncle had to be transported by ambulance from the hospital to the funeral home. He was brought in on a stretcher. It was the first time he had seen her. They rolled his stretcher up by her coffin. It was the worst, most painful thing I have ever had to see. From there the ambulance transported him to the cemetery. He had given up his burial site for Sam. No one had thought she would need one this soon. From the cemetery he was taken back to the hospital. He managed to come home for about 2 weeks. He ended up right back in the hospital. On June 26, my uncle's heart stopped while the nurses were administering a PICC line. He had a DNR, but the Doctors did not look in his chart, so they brought him back and put him on a ventilator. So a little over a month later the family was all called back to the hospital to say good-bye to my uncle. My aunt and cousins had decided to take him off the ventilator. Being on a ventilator was not he wanted. He lasted for 6 more days and then on July 2, 2002 he passed away to be with his baby girl. Six weeks to the day Sam had passed. I say it was from a broken heart. He gave up fighting after she passed.
     I lost my beliefs after they passed. Things like this were not supposed to happen to people like them. What was my aunt going to do with her life now?
In August the driver was indicted on 7 charges. Involuntary manslaughter, Felony hit and run, eluding the police, driving on a suspended, DUI and a couple others. He was let out on bond. He continued to lie to everyone. He kept saying that Sam was driving. Sam was not wearing a seat belt. There was no airbag on her side, but there was one on his. Blood taken from the airbag matched his. He had also made a statement to a nurse that morning that his chest hurt from hitting the steering wheel. He denied all statements. He had also told police (when he was caught) that he had run because his license was suspended. Yet still he said she was driving.
     On December 11 we had trial. His lawyer was trying to get all the statements he had made thrown out, as well as the search warrant for his blood. During recess both lawyers came to an agreement. The driver took what is called an Alfa plea. He is not saying he is guilty, but he is saying there is enough evidence to prove him guilty. In the agreement, he pleaded guilty to 3 felonies. He got 5 years on the eluding the police, 5 suspended. 5 years on the hit and run, 5 suspended. And 9 years 2 months on the manslaughter, 4 suspended. So he has to serve 5 years 2 months. When he is released he will be on supervised probation for at least 20 years and hopefully will never get his license back. He also has about 15 years hanging over his head. He had the nerve at trial (after 7 months) to say he was sorry to the family. I believe his lawyer told him to say that.
     This has been a painful 7 months for us. We are glad he is locked up finally, but it still will not bring Sam back. It still will not erase our thoughts of her last night. What she must have went through in that car. And then him running off and leaving her, not knowing if she was dead or alive. It's sad to think how much she loved him and what he proved himself to be. I know my uncle is up there taking care of her and I believe that they are together. That alone gives me some peace.
     We go to the crash scene on the 18th of every month. We light candles and listen to music and sometimes let balloons off in the sky.  Sometimes it is easier going there than to the cemetery. At the cemetery Sam and my uncle are side by side and I have not been able to go there yet without totally breaking down. We still cry every day and I know we will never be the same. Especially my aunt. Seeing her and knowing what she is going through breaks my heart even more.
People think that something like this will never happen to them. I thought the same way. Before this I would be the first to drive after I had been drinking or get into a car with a friend who had been drinking. Because we all think that this will never happen to us. Well I am sure Sam thought the same thing. She was only 19 years old. She had just graduated in 2001 and was on her way to college. She loved to write poetry and was very very talented. She was popular and loved to hang with her friends and have a good time. That is all she wanted to do the night of May 17 and it cost her her life.
     Drinking and driving does take lives and it not only affects the person who was injured or killed, it also affects all their loved ones. Now we have have to live the rest of our lives without Sam because some person decided he wanted to drink and drive and thought he would be able to run from the police. We will never be over this. The pain of missing Sam is so great. Sometimes unbearable.

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