A mother’s “nagging” text about how her baby was placed inside a car seat saved the child’s life.
Memphis mom Rebecca Tafaro Boyer told her husband David that she wanted updates on how the 3-month-old baby, William, was doing on the first day away from his mother.
In one text, David sent a photo to Rebecca during a trip to Walgreens.
“My nagging wife reply was to correct William’s position in the car seat,” Boyer wrote. “The straps were too loose and the chest clip was way too low. And because I know my husband, I’m sure that he laughed at me and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip.”
About 15 minutes later, her husband called her.
David Boyer “slammed on the brakes at nearly 50 miles an hour before colliding with the front passenger side door of her SUV,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that her “nagging” about the car seat likely saved her son’s life.
“My precious little bundle of joy was so well restrained in his car seat THAT HE DIDN’T EVEN WAKE UP. Even with the impact of the two cars, William only received a minor jolt- so insignificant that he was able to continue on with his nap, and then spend the next two hours flirting with nurses in the Le Bonheur ED,” she said.
David was given crutches after his foot was broken in several places. The car was also totaled.
She also called on other parents that infants should be rear-facing in back seats until their 2 years old.
“I am so thankful that my husband took the extra one minute that was necessary to put William in his car seat safely. I can’t even begin to imagine how different the outcome could have been,” Boyer said. “I truly believe that the reason my family is at home sitting on the couch with a pair of crutches instead of down at the hospital is because of my annoying nagging mom voice.”
She added: “Tonight I am on my knees thanking God for watching over my two precious boys, thanking the amazing staff at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Emergency Department for checking out my little man so quickly, praising Britax for making an incredibly safe car seat, lamenting the loss of my beloved Volkswagen Jetta, and most of all thanking my husband - who has finally proven that yes indeed he is actually listening when I nag him.”
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration says that car accidents are the leading cause of death for children under the age of 13.
“Any car seat that has been involved in a moderate to severe motor vehicle incident where the car cannot be driven away from the scene of the crash immediately becomes defective. When my husband and I realized it would have to be replaced he turned to me and said, ‘We are getting the same [expletive] car seat because that thing did his job.’ I am more than happy to shell out another $200 to Britax for protecting my baby,” she wrote.
