November 1, 1995, a cloudy day when our 20 year
old Megan was killed, after her white VW Rabbit convertible crashed into the
rear of an illegally parked lumber truck on the I-15 freeway in
Loma Linda, California. Heaven touched our lives three times that day, first
when a lite mist fell to earth as Megan was driving south on I-15 about 10 am,
on her way home for school after visiting friends in the desert on Halloween.
A truck driver, who earlier this day decided to save time
and money by not covering his load at the lumber yard, changed his mind. He now
decided to stop in the narrow ‘Emergency Lane’ on the freeway under an
overpass to get out of the lite mist and cover his lumber load.
Megan was driving in the slow lane on the curving
freeway, when she saw something in her driving lane ahead of her. She
panicked, jammed on her car’s brakes, and experienced hell while skidding for
100 feet in a straight line going from the slow lane into the ‘Emergency Lane’,
missed hitting the truck driver and slammed into the rear of the trailer at
about 40 mph !
Moments later, heaven sent a young Christian ‘saint’
named Shane Riley. A ‘Good Samaritan’ passer by who stopped to
help. Shane a Search and Rescue member trained in Trauma First Aid and CPR,
alone rescued Megan from her burning car, cleared her breathing passages, laid
her head in his lap as he sat on the roadside comforting and praying for
her.
Megan silently looked up at ‘our saint’ until she became
unconscious. Shane vividly remembers time standing still, hearing nothing around
him, and experiencing a tranquil out of body journey, compelled by an extremely
bright light drawing them both up towards heaven. We truly believe Shane became
a part of the last time heaven would touch our lives that day, when God sent his
angels to the roadside to bring Megan back to her eternal heavenly home, as she
only lived unconsciously for 40 minutes.
In the California Highway Patrol’s accident report it was
noted and no citation issued, that the crash was caused by Megan "being at fault
for driving in the Emergency Lane". The truck driver was not even noted or
cited for stopping in the Emergency Lane for a non-emergency ! An
unbelievable report not making any common sense, missing facts and supporting
bu$iness over public safety.
On behalf of Megan’s honor we sought the truth of what
really caused Megan’s tragic crash, so we filed a Wrongful Death Civil suit.
During the pretrial phase, the truth was disclosed when the truck driver
admitted he was standing in the slow lane of traffic, pulling on a rope for the
lumber’$ cover !
An avoidable crash that could have been prevented !
However Megan had no choice when the truck driver alone made all the deci$ion$
that would effect both of their lives forever. Initially he only thought about
losing time and money, then later only thought of his load of lumber and the
possible loss of money, and when he illegally parked his truck under the
Bellgrave overpass, he was clearly not concerned about public
safety ! The truck driver committed many acts of negligence, all leading
causes of our Megan being killed ! Yet the investigating CHP
officer and his supervisors condoned this truck driver’s negligent decisions, by
not assuring that all information was gathered at the crash site, then unjustly
blaming Megan as the cause of her tragic truck crash and by not believing in
enforcing existing Vehicle Code law for freeway "Emergency Parking". This is not
true for all CHP officers and supervisors.
Megan was a very thoughtful Christian girl who loved
life, family, friends, pets, Tinkerbell, my rose garden and helping people she
didn’t even know. She was a Certified Nursing Assistant and planned to be a
Registered Nurse. On her first case assignment, she saved the life of a home
care patient who had tried to commit suicide, earning the praise of the EMT’s
and Doctors. Megan would never hurt anyone, and went out of her way to make sure
that others were always safe.
We know the truck driver is alive today because of who
Megan was and her reactions after she saw him in the roadway and avoided hitting
him with her car !
Instead of having our Megan alive today, we now only
have memories. Our feelings about these memories are best expressed in the
following poem:
MEMORIES
THEY SAY MEMORIES ARE GOLDEN,
WELL MAYBE THAT IS
TRUE;
BUT WE NEVER WANTED MEMORIES,
WE ONLY WANTED
YOU.
A
MILLION TIMES WE’LL NEED YOU
A MILLION TIMES WE’LL CRY.
IF LOVE ALONE
COULD HAVE SAVED YOU,
YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE DIED.
IN
LIFE WE LOVED YOU DEARLY,
IN DEATH WE LOVE YOU STILL.
IN OUR HEARTS YOU
HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE
NO ONE ELSE CAN EVER FILL.
IF
TEARS COULD BUILD A STAIRCASE,
AND HEARTACHE BUILD A LANE,
WE’D WALK THE
PATH TO HEAVEN
AND BRING YOU BACK AGAIN.
OUR FAMILY CHAIN IS BROKEN
AND NOTHING SEEMS THE
SAME,
BUT AS GOD CALLS US BACK ONE BY ONE,
THE CHAIN WILL LINK
AGAIN.
by
Jennifer Graham
As one living tribute to our Megan, we are taking the
time and action to help prevent others from the pain of a trucking tragedy,
injuries, or loss of life ! We must clear our highways of all negligent truck
drivers and owners who are making money by gambling with our public safety !
Give your support on behalf of Megan, all other injured or lost loved ones, and
for those we may save from a truck tragedy on our highways.
Please support better crash investigations, stricter
enforcement of the many existing public safety laws in our State’s Vehicle
Codes, and demand stiffer court penalties for those truck drivers, truck owners
and trucking companies who continue to make money from their own regular
negligent decisions and who choose to gamble with the public’s safety and your
life !
