Goes to show - drunk driving is a serious problem - Read this, it made me cry

My2Beauties wrote: Mom Gives Account Of Wedding Crash That Killed Girl In Limo

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WNBC-TV
MINEOLA, N.Y. - Two days after 7-year-old flower girl Kate Flynn died in a wedding limousine struck by an allegedly drunken driver, her grieving mother described how she cradled her daughter's severed head as others were rescued from the carnage. "As I crawled out of the car, the only thing that was left of Kate was her head," Jennifer Flynn said Monday from a lectern at Winthrop University Hospital.

"And I took her -- just that -- and sat on the side of the Meadowbrook (Parkway) and watched the horrendousness going on around me. I sat there for about an hour with her as they cut my entire family out of this crushed tin can that we survived."

Flynn's remarks, intended to emphasize the consequences of drunken driving, were met with stunned silence from reporters, photographers and TV camera crews. State police confirmed that the little girl was decapitated in the crash.

Flynn, who has been released from the hospital, was riding in the limo with four other family members after her sister's wedding.

The limo driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, also was killed.

Still being hospitalized are Flynn's parents, Chris Tangney, 58, and Denise Tangney, 55, in critical but stable condition; her other daughter, Grace Flynn, 5, who is under observation; and her husband, Neil Flynn, in stable condition.

Grace and Kate were flower girls at their aunt's wedding at a country club in Bayville. The Flynns also have two sons.

Flynn's mother is running for a city council seat in Long Beach and her brother, Michael Tangney, is a Long Beach police lieutenant.

Police alleged that Martin Heidgen drove the wrong way on the southbound Meadowbrook Parkway when his pickup truck crashed into the limousine around 2 a.m. Saturday.

Heidgen, who suffered a fractured ankle, moved to Valley Stream from Little Rock, Ark., in 2004 after landing a job at a Wall Street financial company. He was arraigned Sunday and charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, and held without bail at the Nassau County jail. He was ordered to return to court on Thursday.

"Horrible, Horrible," his mother, Margot Heidgen, of Valley Stream told The New York Times. "My heart is broken for them and for everybody. It's a tragedy."

Flynn said she decided to speak to reporters after reading newspaper accounts of the crash.

"Reading in the paper again yesterday that someone's in stable condition or in critical condition but they're expected to make it, it's so much more than that," she said.

"Drunk driving did this to us," Flynn said. "I don't want people to think this was a car accident. It was so much more ... Kate was stolen from us. ... But the life that she led -- and I want people to know this too -- was fabulous ... But she was taken, and it was taken with drunk driving."

"Our family has been torn apart," said Flynn. "We need prayers and we need to be left alone."

3'smom replied: I'm speechless.

mammag replied:

mckayleesmom replied:

luvbug00 replied: I serously almost vomited. It's terible and sad and Just goes to show what idiots drunk drivers are. I don't know if I would tuch a decapitated head Even if it was my childs. I hope that people see this and how much pain a family goes thew when somone drunk decides to risk anothers life by getting behind the wheel drunk.

Alice replied: It's been all over the local news for the past few days. The Meadowbrook Parkway is a LARGE 6 lane highway. Entrances are clearly marked, and signs saying "Wrong Way!" and "Do Not Enter!!" are on the exit ramps if you look our your rearview mirror. This guy had to have been totally incapacitated for him to be going the wrong way.

And there's no way he got that drunk alone. I hope the police also find a way to focus on whoever let him drive.

booey2 replied: Wow , is all I can say. My heart sank as i read this.

My2Beauties replied: I keep reading this over and over, and everytime it literally gives me chills and causes my eyes to well up with tears. Out of all the sad stories I've read lately, the murders, the kidnappings, everything, this just struck me, it hit a bad chord! Mainly because murders and kidnappings are actually down it just seems as they're up because the news reports on them so much. THings like this go underreported and it's such a serious problem, it's sad that it takes a little girl being beheaded by a drunk driver for it to be reported in the news. My uncle is a serious alcoholic and has been in several crashes related to his drinking, the last one included a 6 month old infant whose mother's SUV turned over about 6 times, thank God they both are alive and well, but I just think of what could have been and I really hate him for it. I love my uncle, but I hate him for the danger that he puts people in. I guess this just hits home because of my uncle having had his license taken away 4 times now for DUI and being locked up more than that, and they keep giving it back to him Makes me very angry!

Kaitlin'smom replied: I knew I should have not read that but I did

I need to go see my daughter NOW

why is it the drunks always get ways with no or little injury, so not fair

luvbug00 replied: Their bodies are more floppy to the motion of bring hit because they are unable to cause their mussles to become tight so when they expereince a hit they just go limp. It stinks. he died but not as half as painful as having your head cut off. .

amymom replied:
I've heard most of this before. I don't know why the drunk drivers never seem to get hurt. This driver did not die. He is walking around.

luvbug00 replied: Ohh thought he did. sorry well then he's a

Jamielou replied: That has to be the worst thing i have ever heard of I cant imagine what they are going through....

MissyKay2005 replied: So sad Prays are with them family

JessC replied: ohhh that is sad!!!

well i vote that the drunk drive should have died too!

MommyToAshley replied:

I debated on whether or not to read this story, and I probably shouldn't have becasue I can't get the mental picture of the mother holding her child's head out of my mind. I am with the reporters on this one, I am without words.

It may sound gruesome, but I can sympathize with the Mom wanting to hold onto her daughter. How my heart just aches for her. It's terribly sad and horrific for everyone involved, but that POOR mother.

If this story doesn't get someone to think twice before drinking and driving, I don't know if anything will.

Insanemomof3 replied:

My2Beauties replied:
My sentiments exactly, even the slightest bit of alcohol can cause your reaction time to slow down or anything, things that we may think aren't a big deal. "Oh I only live down the street from the bar, it'll be fine." The sad thing is, that isn't always the case. I'm sure many of us, including myself, have driven when they have had a couple of drinks. I have never drove so incredibly drunk, ie, I was not able to walk, studdering, puking, feeling dizzy, etc...but I have drove when I drank 1 or maybe even 2 and sat there for a while after the last one back before I had kids and I'm sad I did. This story made me even mad at myself. While I"m sure the drunk driver in this case was far from just a tad bit tipsy, it just goes to show nomatter how much liquor one consumes, it's enough to hurt someone when you get behind the wheel of a car! I can't get the image of that poor woman sitting there for over an hour amongst the chaos holding onto the one piece of her daughter she could get to, it saddens me and now I'm crying again! Awww this is so terrible! The drunk driver, I hate to say this, needs an example made of him/her! It has to be done. This problem won't go away if we give people stiffer punishments. Why manslaughter? Why only 10 years or so because they didn't intentionally do it - yes they did, they made a choice to drive drunk, to me, it's murder - point blank! I can also argue that it could be pre-meditated! Sorry that is how strong I feel about this.

CCTandME replied: I can't even begin to imagine her pain. As gross as holding the severed head sounds, I can understand doing it.

coasterqueen replied: Every time I read stories like this I relive a part of my past. I lost three people to drunk drivers, two of them were my cousins (different accidents) and the other was a very close close friend of mine. Dh has lost his uncle to drunk driving, but he was the driver. Dh's other uncle was the drunk driver that killed someone. So I know too well what drunk driving does.

I had to sit there and watch my cousin in an open casket ceremony. His face completely caved in, the horror I saw that day was just too much for me to bear. I was a teenager. My family decided the best thing was an open casket and the only reason I was given was that we ALL needed to be reminded what drunk driving does. My cousin was killed by someone who drank and drove a car. That person got off with a very minimal sentence and my cousin lost his life forever. I still can barely type this without crying and it's been a long time.

My other cousin I didn't know as well, distant cousin, but was tragically taken the same way. Drunk driver lived, minimal sentence, but my cousin lost his life.

My close close friend got engaged the night she lost her life. She lost her life to her fiancee, he was the drunk driver. He had proposed and afterwards they celebrated with a bottle of champagne. A beautiful ending to a romantic evening. NOT! I lost her as a teen, junior in high school. She was the third person I lost to drunk drivers.

Dh's uncle was a drunk driver when he was younger and killed someone. I have no idea who the person was, how many he killed, nothing. He has chosen not to speak of it. He did a short sentence but lost his license for a very very long time. What's his life like now (about 30 years later)? He's a drunk, he's a druggy, and he's driving with a license now. He's no longer a part of our life. I wanted to add that his uncle was a teenager who was just out having fun. He was like every other teen who thinks they will forever no matter what they do. He became the drunk/druggy later on in life because he has never been able to forgive himself. He also has lost his family, home and business to this horrible tragedy, a tragedy he made when he was a young person. It's truly horrible.

Dh's other uncle...well we buried him about 3 or 4 years ago. He was drunk, fell asleep at the wheel, and drove right into a parked semi. At least he had the decency to hit something parked with noone in it. Sorry that's harsh to say but it's true.

Sorry to ramble on here but I know far to well what that woman is going through. Well actually I don't because I haven't lost a child like that. But I swear if I ever lose a child like that woman did......I will lobby drunk driving legislation til they bury me in the grave!

Catherine's Mommy replied: I feel very sad for the family of Katie Flynn. Prayers go out to them.

ions_momma replied: I cant even find the words to say after reading this. I couldnt imagine having that happened to my son. I dont think I could go on. That is soooo sad! I will definatly keep this family in my thoughts and prayers!

A&A'smommy replied: OMG OMG I can't read that!!

SOUTHERN MOMMY replied: This is insane that they let people contunie on a path of destruction. I believe they should be locked up for life (IMO).My family is also a victom of drunken driving My DH's mom was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 40 and left two very young children with no mom. The drunk driver spent 10 days in jail and that was it. Now my FIL and my MIL's dad are drunk drivers Her dad actually killed someone in a wreck about 10 years ago but, they both was drinking and noone was charged he should have went to prison IMO. As for my FIL he has not killed anyone yet and i pray to god that he don't it looks to me like they would know what pain it causes and would not do it but they keep on like it is nothing to them. by the way we have nothing to do with them b/c of this behavior i will not have my children seeing this and then doing it one day

My2Beauties replied: karen your story made me cry because it's all too familiar to me. A little bit of background, my dad has 7 brothers and sisters, my dad is the only one with a real sister, meaning they have the same mom and dad, the rest of his siblings all have different dads and don't really know their fathers. My dad and his real sister were fortunate to have had my grandpa raise them and take custody, he is a wonderful man, the others, however, weren't so lucky in that they were raised by my grandma, who is a pill popping drug addict and cares about herself. All of them have severe problems, they are either doped up on drugs, popping pills, or alcoholics. So the uncle I referred to above was raised by her. I have or should I say HAD another uncle whom was also raised by her, his name is Bill. He was in and out of prison a lot for different drug charges. He too died from an impaired driver - hisself! He had just gotten out of prison approximately 2 weeks prior to the incident and he was on his way to see his parole officer early one morning. He lived in the boonies of Kentucky, curvy hillly roads, if you went off the side of the road there is nothing but cliffs and trees. He decided to pop some pills that morning before he left (he just got out of jail for drugs, but what they hey) and fell asleep at the wheel that morning. He lost control of his car and went down a 200 foot cliff. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and was ejected from the car through the windshield, his car landed on top of him. This happened 5 years ago this December, I can still see his face and body vividly, his casket too was open. One side of his entire face was crushed, so the funeral home had to put some type of collagen or something in his face to make it puff out and look halfway normal, didn't work so well. On one side you could see his jawbones and his skull framing around his eyes, on the other side it was all puffed out, with no jawline or anything. They had to put tons of make-up on him to cover the bruises and scars from the accident, he even had make up on his ears It was piled on so thick he looked atrocious. Normally a corpse's hands are crossed neatly at the bottom of their stomach, not his! Every bone in each of his hands were broken so they wouldn't go together, they were mangled, fingers sticking up out of place, overlapping other fingers, scraped up, bruised (there was make-up on his hands too, thick make-up), it was horrendous. They looked like fake hands that had been broken off and put back together wrong. He was an absolute mess. It still pains me to think about what my uncle looked like laying there. I was so mad at him for what he did to himself, but also thankful, that he didn't kill someone else. He left behind a 5 year old daughter and a loving wife that nomatter what he did, she stuck by his side. For a moment, at his funeral I thought everyone would see what he had done to himself and take that as a lesson to be learned that their behavior, even if it kills yourself and not someone else, still affects everyone around you. It didn't work! Like I said my other uncle continues to drive drunk, he was in two accidents within 1 week, both his fault, both of them he was drunk! He still has his license though I guess they are waiting on him to kill someone too before they do anything about it!

ETA: I knwo this wasn't a drunk driving incident but any drug (including alcohol because it is a drug) greatly impairs your driving. So I just had to tell this story.

coasterqueen replied: Thanks for telling your story too. It is true, they don't think of who they are affecting when they drink and drive (even if they are the only one injured or killed). Alcoholics are like that in general though, even if they don't drive drunk. Same goes for drug addicts, too.