A terrifying car accident has caught national attention this week as an example of extremely reckless driving - an almost benign title for what actually occurred. On Friday, Dec. 16 a plane arrived carrying a soldier home after an 11-month tour in Baghdad. While he was stepping off of the airplane, his wife and four children were stepping across the parking lot eager to see their dad.

The mother carefully requested that the children hold hands and walk in a line so that no one would go darting in front of a moving vehicle or wander off alone. The mother's safety efforts could never have prevented the reckless behavior of another driver who careened around a corner and struck the 6-year-old boy. The young child was dragged several feet until the car finally came to rest after striking a wall.

Emergency responders were immediately called to the scene. The young boy was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that he suffered a broken femur, nose and jaw. The boy lost nearly all of his teeth and will most likely require reconstructive surgery to repair the damage to his mouth.

The mother shook as she described the experience. She said that the driver "turn[ed] the corner and he just ran over my son and dragged him 10 or 15 feet. He didn't even slow down. He didn't even stop until he hit a concrete wall."

When police questioned the 61-year-old driver they smelled alcohol emanating from his body. While toxicology reports were still pending at the time of the report, police suspect that the driver was intoxicated when the crash occurred. An airport spokesman said that he has not seen or heard of an accident as terrible as this one in his 11 years employed with the airport.

Source: Pioneer Press, "Returning soldier's son, 6, hospitalized after car drags him at airport," Will Ashenmacher, Dec. 17, 2011