lk so I am going to add it at the bottom. Thank you Tracy for all your help and thank you and my mom for going with me.ASHLEY FRANSCELL/Daily Herald
Kim Sandoval remembers her son, Keifer, who died last year in a single car accident on his way to school in Lehi. Sandoval is one of several families who have lost a teenage in car accidents who have told their story as part of a teenage driving campaign through the Utah Department of Heath Violence and Injury Prevention Program. Photo taken at a press conference Thursday, September 11, 2008 in Salt Lake City.
Friday, 12 September 2008
Family remembers teen driving danger
Kiefer's Story:
One year and 18 days ago I lost my oldest son Kiefer Nicolas Sandoval in a single vehicle accident, two weeks before his 17th birthday. Kiefer was beautiful, caring, and intelligent. He was the debate team president, a son, brother, and friend. Kiefer had an ineffable sense of joy about life. He had a thousand watt smile. He knew how to laugh at himself and make others laugh. Sometime Kiefer would laugh about some joke that he found so hilarious he would fall helpless on the floor but was incapable of telling you why he was laughing. When this would happen you would just start laughing at him you couldn’t help it. The joy that Kiefer found in life was contagious.
He loved long boarding, listening to his iPod, going golfing, reading and hanging out with friends. He has a definite sense of self. He didn’t care what anyone thought. He could as easily stand on the stage at the Shakespere Festival in Cedar city and perform a monologue from Julius Caesar, or make a fool of himself riding a toy horse through Wal-Mart in front of a bunch of girls as he could debate private healthcare issues with a doctor. Kiefer dressed like he wanted and said what he wanted; even if it wasn’t want everyone else would want to hear. He lettered in debate his sophomore year and was an award winning writer. His creative writing teacher actually kept everything that he wrote in class because she was sure that he one day would be a famous.
He loved long boarding, listening to his iPod, going golfing, reading and hanging out with friends. He has a definite sense of self. He didn’t care what anyone thought. He could as easily stand on the stage at the Shakespere Festival in Cedar city and perform a monologue from Julius Caesar, or make a fool of himself riding a toy horse through Wal-Mart in front of a bunch of girls as he could debate private healthcare issues with a doctor. Kiefer dressed like he wanted and said what he wanted; even if it wasn’t want everyone else would want to hear. He lettered in debate his sophomore year and was an award winning writer. His creative writing teacher actually kept everything that he wrote in class because she was sure that he one day would be a famous.
Kiefer loved with all his heart. He had so many friends and made more everywhere he went. He had an affinity for those in need and extended himself to people who may have needed a friend or a shoulder. Kiefer wanted nothing more than to help people and make them happy.
My son, a beautiful teenage boy was smart, ambitious, loving and passionate, talented and imaginative. He had dreams of Yale, the Peace core and eventually a career as an attorney. All of his dreams were taken away in mere seconds.
Kiefer left for his fourth day of his junior year with his younger brother, Kyler, (age 15) at 7:00 AM. It was August 24, 2007, a beautiful and sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. I told my boys goodbye, to have a good day at school and that I loved them. My sons got into Kiefer’s car buckled up and headed to school taking center street on the east side of Lehi, a very narrow, hilly and winding road. As he headed up the hill he was slightly over the center line and going 10 to 15 miles over the posted speed limit of 25 mile per hour. At the same time there were two cars coming down the hill around a blind corner. When Kiefer saw the first car he swerved so as not to collide with it, he then overcorrected back across the center line where he saw the second. At this time he overcorrected again and his car left the road and rolled down an embankment. His car landed upside down, wedged against a tree. Kyler, who was basically unharmed, called me on his cell phone, telling me that they had been in an accident and that he thought that Kiefer was dead. I arrived at the accident before any emergency personal. Kyler had already helped two men that had stopped remove his brother from the car by lowering him from his seat beat and pulling him out the back window.
I will never forget the sight on my son lying in the dirt with these two strangers. I was just begging for him to breathe because I could see that his chest was not moving like it was supposed to. When the emergency personal finally arrived minutes later, I felt like it had been hours. They made Kyler and I go up the hill and wait. I am unsure of the events that followed or the amount of time that passed. I just know that at one point I was sitting in an ambulance when someone came and told Kyler and I that Kiefer hadn’t made it.
The death certificate said time of death was at 7:03 AM, three minutes after he left our driveway, on that beautiful day, less than ¼ mile from our home. On that day Kyler lost not only his big brother and best friend but his innocence. I lost my oldest son, and the world lost a beautiful person, one that would have certainly changed it if only given the time.
This last Sunday would have been Kiefer's 18th birthday. No parent should have to go the cemetery for their child’s birthday. Birthdays should be about happiness, not sadness and what if's. I hope Kiefer’s story will help other teenagers realize accidents can happen anytime, anywhere and even if they are going just a few miles over the speed limit. Accidents can still be deadly. No one is invincible. Please slow down.
