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Monday, July 23, 2018

No Word For a Parent Who Loses a Child

Royce Atkins
On Friday, Pennsylvania's Superior Court affirmed a four- year sentence against hit-and-run driver Royce Atkins, currently a guest at SCI Rockview. In 2015, his Mazda struck and killed nine year-old Darious Condash, a fourth-grade student at Shecker Elementary School. Condash had darted back onto a busy Schoenersville Rd to pick up a fallen piece of candy. Though there was no evidence that Atkins himself was speeding or impaired, he rushed off without stopping and spent several days concealing what had happened, perhaps because it was too terrible to believe. 

I have written a detailed story about this for some weekly papers. But I want to publish a small story here because Judge Koury had something to say about parents who lose a child.

Quoting from An Orphan's Tale, Judge Koury said,

"A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child. That’s how awful the loss is."

I know some parents who have lost children, either to illness or a motor vehicle accident. Some of them get involved in different charities or organizations that will prevent other children  from suffering a similar fate. But there are a few who just lose it and get pretty ugly.
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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 2:31 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 8:24 AM

    Anonymous, why are you sounding off when you obviously do not know the story? I vividly remember it because the young boy was walking with a teenage relative when this happened. He was not a "little kid wandering" at all. Not everyone is blessed to live in a low-traffic suburb and to be able to walk along lightly populated streets to pick up their candy. Great post Bernie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 8:41 AM

    Right on @ 8:24, I drive thru that intersection often and agree, even the part about Bernie.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 10:11 AM

    That's not a pedestrian-friendly area by any stretch of the imagination. That said, most mistakes are survivable. This one was not. Ease up on the parent(s). I'm certain they'd give anything to turn back time and keep their kid alive.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 10:22 AM

    Sheckler School.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bernie O'HareJuly 23, 2018 at 10:44 AM

    I deleted 2:31, whio was both ignorant and factually inaccurate.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 4:55 PM

    That is a busy road to be crossing at twilight. Was it at an intersection or in the middle?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bernie O'HareJuly 23, 2018 at 5:14 PM

    That subject was addressed then. There is no dispute that the accident itself was no fault of Atkins. His subsequent flight and attempts at concealment are. Had he stopped, he never would have been charged.

    ReplyDelete
  9. BlackSox'sSamJuly 23, 2018 at 6:45 PM

    Losing a child,Son or Daughter at 9,25,27 is a nightmare.The pain is eased with friends who are there for the parents and the cowards who pay no respect should be ashamed of themselves.The Cowards will still show up for Easter & Christmas Mass.

    ReplyDelete
  10. HibiscusJuly 23, 2018 at 8:46 PM

    The Mentor is doing better than ever him and Archangel have more coitus in a week than both mm and boh have had in the past 1/4 century

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJuly 23, 2018 at 9:34 PM

    It is a shame that two peoples lives are destroyed by tragic mistakes made by both victims. It is understandable the man did not stop. there have been incidents involving traffic accidents were a person was beaten by the ethnics involved. He may have feared for his life. This was a group crossing a busy road illegally at dusk. I think people need to understand the situation he was in.

    ReplyDelete

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