Derick Birk

Hi, my name is Trisha Birk. My husband lost his 8 year old half brother in a 4wheeler accident on October 14, 2007.

It started as a normal day for them. He went to church with his mom. When they got home from church, they changed clothes and went to his Grandpa's house. He was riding his youth sized four wheeler around the house while his dad (my husbands dad also) & mom were talking to a gentleman about logging some timber on the land. They saw a truck speeding down the gravel road. The next sounds they heard changed all of our lives forever.

Derick had decided that he wanted to cross the road to ride in the field and failed to notice the pick up coming down the road. When Derick was half way across the road, the pick up struck him on his left side. My father in law ran down to where the accident happened while Derick's mom called 911. They covered him with blankets and waited for the ambulance and life flight helicopter to arrive. Derick was unconcious at first but did come to for a while. He said it didn't hurt and that he was scared. Things looked very promising. His heart rate was strong and he was alert. By the time his parents made the trip to the hospital an hour & a half away, Derick had passed. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Derick suffered from trauma to the back of his head (he did have a helmet on but it was thrown off upon impact, his left arm was broken and his left leg was nearly severed. Had he survived he would have lost it.

I am sharing our story because we have children that are Derick's age and I can't even begin to imagine the pain that my in laws are suffering through. Our children are devestated that they have lost their best friend and uncle. I pray to God that this story saves just one child and one family from having to suffer through this pain and agony.

BACK TO STORIES