Jefferson J.C. Haupt

My son Jefferson J.C. Haupt was killed October 17, 2009.  It happened just a week after his 14th birthday.  It was a beautiful October day.  Some friends of ours had called and ask if they could bring an ATV out to our property to ride around.  I have six children 4 girls and 2 boys.  Our friend thought it would be fun for the boys to ride around our property.  We live on 2 acre\'s in a rural area.  The boys had never been on an ATV before.  Our friends were teaching Hunter my 11 year old and Jefferson to ride and learn how to brake and shift.  Hunter took a couple turns, then Jefferson.  He was having a ball.  I sat on the front steps watching him ride through the fields and in our own front yard.  I did this for several hours why the boys took turns.  I then told the two older boys who brought the ATV to our house that I had to leave to pick up Brittany my 17 year old from work.  The boys said they would be fine, but Hunter decided he wanted to ride with me.

I left the house leaving Jefferson with two other adults to continue having fun.  Within 20 minutes of me leaving my life would change forever.  My 16 year old called me crying saying Bubba (as we called him) had fallen off the ATV and there was blood everywhere and he wasn't breathing.  By the time I got back there were sirens and police and fire trucks all over my front yard.  I pulled in jumping out of my van only to see a lady giving my son CPR on the ground of our front yard.  My husband had ran home from the nearby farm where he works and was screaming at my son breathe bubba breath.  I watched helplessly as they pushed on my son’s chest in my front yard.  They finally loaded him into the ambulance where they continued to give him CPR. It seemed like forever until they finally told us they were airlifting him to a nearby hospital.  I watched as they took him out of the ambulance with people working on him and put him into the helicopter.  I remember a Sheriff coming up to me and say I'll give you a ride to the hospital.  I will never forget walking into that hospital and being put in this room with a nurse saying the Doctor will be in shortly.  I was thinking he had some bad injuries but that he would be o.k.  The doctor walked in and said I\'m sorry we did everything we could your son died.  I went numb and just said let me see him.  When I saw my son he had not a scratch on him.  He looked perfectly normal not even a broken bone.  According to the DNR and the witnesses on the scene Jefferson was riding the ATV and lost control coming up to the house and he flipped over the handlebars landing face first.  The ATV then flew up in the air and rolled over my son causing a basilar skull fracture that severed his brain stem.  They tell me he died instantly and they did everything they could to revive him but there was too much trauma to his brain stem.  I will never let any of my children on an ATV ever again.  They are dangerous killing machines.  Living in the country we see them everyday and I just pray whoever is driving it may god make them safe.  I was also told that a helmet would not have saved my son\'s life.  So it doesn’t\'t matter what protection you use you will never be safe from these killing machines.  Jefferson was a sweet smiling young man who loved everybody.  He loved football and was looking forward to playing High School football.  I never realized until after his death how many lives he touched and what an impression he made on everybody he met.  I love you bubba and think of you everyday.

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