Faith gives perspective

After their son Matt was run over by a car, walking away with only bumps and bruises, Carly and Lance Grubb had reason to reflect on the accident and life in general.

Matt Grubb, 2 and a half years old, was run over Friday afternoon, Nov. 14 in his driveway. Luckily, Matt was small enough to not be crushed by the car and suffered only minor injuries.

Carly Grubb, Matt's mother, and Sophia Grubb, Matt's 7-year-old sister, witnessed the accident. Haley Grubb, Matt's 6-year-old sister, was also outside with the family.

Saratoga Street Safety

The north end of Range View Avenue is known by local residents to become icy after snowfalls. In fact, Carly said just that morning, she slid past her house and had to drive to the bottom of the hill and turn around to get into her driveway. Lance Grubb also said he slid down the hill in front of his house several times in teh past.

Lance Grubb, Matt's father, said he talked to the town in the past about the need to sand the streets near his house in the Country Club Heights neighborhood. The town did do winter maintenance to Range View Ave. before the accident.

Ironically, Levy Whitfield, the driver who accidentally ran over Matt, used to plow and sand streets for the town of Saratoga. Whitfield was not cited for the accident due to the condition of the street, another indicator that the town has not acted to make the neighborhood streets safe.

Whitfield said with the condition of the roads the accident was "something that couldn't be helped." He noted the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and police officers had difficulty standing at the scene of the accident.

Ed Shiels, with the Platte Valley Clinc, said he had to sitch his truck into the curb above the Grubbs house to keep from sliding into the scene of the accident when he responded tot he emergency call.

As of press time, the town of Saratoga had not responded to a request for information about street maintenance.

Witnessing an accident

"All I could say was 'no' I was screaming 'no.'"

Carly said the accident happened quickly. "There was just a thump, and he was gone."

Carly told Whitfield, "You just ran over my son you've got to get your car off." Whitfield got out of the car and jacked it up. All accounts say Whitfield had the front end of the car off of Matt in under five minutes.

While this was occuring, Carly asked Sophia to get the phone and call 911. After the call was made, they also called Lance's mom, Renie Grubb, to come help.

As Carly was holding his hand under the car, Matt kept saying "I'm stuck, mommy I'm stuck."

After the car was jacked up enough, they pulled Matt from under the car.

Mitch Zieger, a town maintenance employee, heard the radio traffic aboutthe accident and was on scene early. Carly said Mitch, who was formerly an EMT, asked some basic questions of Matt to assess the child's responsiveness. Matt was able to answer the questions as his mother held him.

Eventually, the family moved inside so Shiels and the EMTs could assess Matt while he was protected from he cold.

Matt was "a trooper through the whole thing," according to Carly. Shiels reported Matt was placed on a child-sized backboard before being moved to the ambulance. Carly said they did not have a neck brace small enough, but the EMT crew improvised and made Matt as comfortable as possible.

The EMTs had some struggles obtaining Matt's vital signs in the ambulance, as their pulse oximeter (to measure blood oxygen levels) and their blood pressure cuffs were too large for the toddler.

The most aggravating thing for Matt once he was at the emergency room was when they cut his favorite T-shirt off of him.

After a series of x-rays and a physical examination, Matt was cleared by the ER doctors and Carly was able to take him home.

Moving on

Both Carly and Lance noted a feeling of helplessness surrounding the accident. Carly witnessed her youngest child being run over and pinned by a vehicle.

Lance found about the accident while he was in Mexico helping cousins who were racing in the Baja 1000. He texted Carly to check in as the team was in the city of La Paz and Carly texted back that Matt had been run over and they were loading him into an ambulance. Lance did not have any contact with the family for an hour and half after that. He said the experience was stressful, to say the least.

Carly felt the stress of not having Lance at home. Her parents were out of town as well. Carly said she questioned what she would do if the situation made a turn for the worse.

She said all she could do was keep praying.

Carly said she has no way to explain the accident and how Matt ended up under the car with his feet pointing toward the front of the car. "The only way I can explain it to people is that God had his hand in it and that was the best possible way for him to be under that vehicle."

Carly talked about her feelings after the accident, saying, "I have my moments of panic where I'm like 'you are never going in the driveway again.' or 'you are never going outside in the snow.' I can go to that extreme or I can say 'I have put you in God's hands and that's where you stay, so I am just here to help guide you. I know that God's watching over us every step of the way and that's what we pray every morning."

Carly doesn't hold any anger against Whitfield, she said he was not driving fast. The street was very slick, according to Carly, as it had snowed nearly every day that week, warmer days were mixed with cold nights, and the street had not been plowed or sanded once.

Carly talked about feeling herself get angry about the condition of the road thinking, "this should be taken care of before it gets to the point where children are getting run over."

But she said she knows anger is going to get her anywhere. Lance agrees with Carly.

In stark contrast to their anger, the Grubb family sat down one night after the accident and made a list of people that was involved in the accident and how thankful they were for the actions everyone took, including Whitfield, EMTs, Shiels, town police, family and friends and the town employees that showed up after they heard about the accident on the city radio channel.

Lance said, "It's really easy for us to get fearful or to get bitter, or to blame people, and I don't want to go there. I think that God spared Matt's life, and I think that my focus needs to be on thankfulness."

Lance also hopes the community can learn from the accident. He plans to attend a town council meeting in order to bring up the need for winter street maintenance.

Lance and Carly said they are helping their children through this by helping them to not be afraid, and "ultimately we have to trust God with everything."