Car crash claims third child of wounded Iraq veteran
The Associated Press
DALLAS — A wounded Iraq veteran and his wife have lost a third child from injuries the boy suffered in a car accident on the way to visit his father in the hospital.
Three weeks after his siblings died in an Oct. 13 accident on the gusty West Texas plains, 9-year-old Tyler Johnson died Saturday at Children's Medical Center Dallas.
Army Spc. John Austin Johnson was waiting for his wife, Lisa, and their three kids to visit him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio when the deadly crash occurred on Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Ozona.
Lisa Johnson overcorrected the steering in her sport utility vehicle after encountering a blast of wind on the drive from El Paso, causing the car to roll at least four times, officials have said.
The couple's youngest children, 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley, died at the scene. Tyler Johnson suffered massive head injuries.
Lisa Johnson was driving at the speed limit, traffic investigators have said, but they blamed the accident on a combination of high speed, drowsiness and powerful winds.
The three children were in the back seat. Logan was in a child seat, but the other two children were not wearing seatbelts.
Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt, a family spokesman, said Tyler survived longer than expected.
The Johnsons were too upset to talk publicly, but Schmidt said they're coping the best they can.
``I think the good thing is they knew it (Tyler's death) was coming,'' Schmidt said. ``They had time to prepare for it this time.''
Johnson, who is stationed at Fort Bliss, has survived five brushes with improvised explosive device blasts during two years in Iraq, Schmidt said last month. The latest left him with a traumatic brain injury, and he speaks with a severe stutter.
Visitation for Tyler is set for Wednesday and a funeral for Thursday at Roller-Ballard Funeral Home in Benton, Ark., the family's hometown.
Numerous donations have helped the family deal with immediate expenses.
The Professional Golfers' Association raised $95,000 to pay for a new car and other expenses.
American Airlines donated plane tickets for family members to travel to the children's funerals last month and the pending funeral this week.
Schmidt said the Johnsons plan to take a month off to rest and decide what to do next.
``Right now, they've kind of had a mission, so to speak going to hospital every day, checking on their son, burying two others,'' he said. ``When this calms down, they're going to realize it's just them two.''
lac
