Angela:
Myself and one other lady were the first ones on the scene of the accident. I was backing out of my drive way and had to throw on brakes because Rhonda Bryant came out of nowhere speeding past me. I remember being so angry because I have always complained that people drove on our street like it was a freeway. As I continued to back out of my drive way, I heard a loud boom and saw a cloud of smoke. My first thought was "What just blew up". I started driving down the street and that's when I saw the car that sped past me just minutes before had crashed into a truck parked on the opposite side of the road. I stopped and ran to see if the driver was ok but it wasn't until I got to the car that I heard Jeremy moaning. My attention immediately went to him. I don't need to tell you what a HORRIFIC sight it was. The other lady (I don't know who she was) and myself worked together getting information to the dispatcher and keeping Jeremy awake and talking until help arrived. I admired his strength then and I admire it now. I have always prayed for a positive outcome of this tragedy. I can't begin to imagine all that your family has had to go through and what Jeremy has had to endure but I can say that November 10, 2012 will be a day that I will never forget.
She added to it:
Hi Jenny,
When I saw that you had emailed me back so soon I was like a kid at Christmas! I have been so excited about being in contact with you. I called family members and friends who have often inquired about Jeremy's condition and told them that I had been in touch with you. They were excited for me because they knew how that day affected me. It feels like I just let out a huge sigh of relief just knowing that Jeremy is alive! The last I heard that day was that he was being flown to Duke or Chapel Hill and I really did not think he would survive the flight. I saw how mangled his body was and how much blood he lost. I was so overwhelmed when I saw the beautiful picture on your blog of you in your gown and Jeremy in his dress blues. The only images I had in my head were those from the day of the accident. So now I have a more beautiful picture and my heart is so full right now. I believe that God put me right where I was supposed to be that day. So please do not apologize for me having to witness such a scene. We all have a purpose and that day it was mine to be there. I was there until the ambulance drove off and the fire department started the clean up. The lady that stopped the same time that I did, was on the phone with the 911 operator asking me questions to ask Jeremy. I would ask Jeremy and then relay the answers to her. I don't know if she just couldn't tolerate the scene or what but she stayed down on the street while she was on the phone so we formed a little relay team. Your next door neighbor David came out before paramedics came and I asked him to get a blanket (for shock) and by that time Eric was there and I saw that the two of them knew Jeremy so they stayed with him and I then focused my attention on Rhonda who was still pinned in the car. I truly was concerned for her until I got the door open as much as I could to try and calm her down and that's when I smelled the alcohol. The concern then turned into anger. I remember when they knocked on your door to let you know what happened. I thought my heart was going to break into pieces when you came out and saw Jeremy. It was a very emotional day for all involved I'm sure. It could have been me going to the mail box or my son walking to school. My prayer now is that justice is served!
Amy:
I was at the scene of the accident that sunny
day, November 10th, 2012. Actually, to be more precise, the two
vehicles stopped right in front of my house there on Calamar Drive in the
Montibello subdivision. I did not see the accident happen, but my husband was
one of the first people to the side of Jeremy Bruns. My husband is a war
veteran and said he had never seen anything like it. He said that he has never
felt so helpless because he couldn’t help his neighbor. All he could do was
talk to him to keep him conscious and wrap him with a blanket to keep him warm
from the result of blood loss and shock. I turned around the corner onto my
street that morning to find a number of emergency vehicles in front of my
house. My first thought was that
something had happened to one of my family members. I found out that they were okay by a gesture
from my husband. Finding out what
happened was shocking, to say the least. It was a horrific scene, like
something one would see in a movie, only it was happening right there in my
front yard. I thought for sure in, that moment, that the woman sitting across
the street in another neighbor’s yard would pay the price for what she had done
to this family. My neighbors and I took turns holding Jenny as emergency
services tried to find the safest way to free him from between the vehicles. Seeing
his foot sticking out from under the car, twisted in an unnatural way, I knew
that he would lose his legs if he survived. His life hung in balance for the time he was between the vehicles and
especially after he was removed. I was
with Jenny until she was allowed to see him. The wait seemed to take forever
for me and I am sure it felt like a lifetime for Jenny. I didn’t leave her side
until she had her bags packed and left with another neighbor to be taken to her
husband’s side.
I cried about the event for days and had to
call in to schedule an appointment with my councilor to talk through what I saw
that day. When talking through the events with her, I realized that if I had
not made the stop at the nearby gas station, that I would have been towards the
end of my driveway (where the truck landed) unloading groceries. Any time that
I went near the edge of my yard, I feared that I would be next because I knew
that the woman was not in jail and that she lived just down the road from me.
It scared me! I can’t even imagine the nightmare that it has been for Jeremy
and his family.
Of
course I have talked to my husband about the tragic event, as well as the other
neighbor who was there before paramedics arrived. Prior to their arrival,
Rhonda had apparently tried to move her car off of him but was unsuccessful,
thankfully, because it probably would have meant almost certain death for
Jeremy. The neighbor said that he yelled at her to “get off of him” and she
replied with, “I tried”. She had hit him going so fast that apparently the
mangled engine of her car had wedged itself under his truck and also caught on
the trailer hitch of his truck. So, not only was she intoxicated, but also
going over the speed limit to have done that. The same neighbor said that he
spoke to the woman’s husband at the scene and stated that his wife had been
away from home since Wednesday. I knew, with that statement, that she must have
a drug addiction. My husband stated once the paramedics arrived, that one of
the first paramedics on the scene, though unprofessional, said “HOLY SHIT!”. You know that a scene is horrific if an EMT says something like that.
A horrific scene it was, however, I
always took comfort in the fact that our judicial system would serve justice
for this family whose lives were forever changed that sunny Saturday morning.
Fast forward just over a year and I hear of this woman’s possible punishment of
two months in jail and 3-5 years on probation for a guilty plea. I am sorry but
I am floored by this! Her choices that day forever changed the lives of an
entire family and her sentence will not affect what she does in the future in
the slightest bit. I guess the reasoning behind this is so this woman can seek
treatment. She has had plenty of time to seek help due to the feet dragging of
those in our judicial system. I am sorry but if what she did to Jeremy that day
didn’t make her go and seek treatment, then nothing will. She almost killed him
that day. If it weren’t for the actions of paramedics and hospital staff, he
probably would have died that day. I understand the desire for rehabilitation
but are you telling me that it takes precedence over making a person pay for
the crime that they have committed? I have seen and heard of people getting
more time in jail for crimes that did not cause bodily harm to another person! What
kind of example is this setting for others out there like Rhonda? They can just
go out and have fun, then get behind the wheel and maim someone because they
will only have to serve 60 days of jail time. The Bruns family had their world
turned upside down that day. Jeremy’s day to day went from working at his job
on Fort Bragg and spending time afterwards doing the things he loves to
rehabilitation therapy, surgeries and just trying to adapt to his new reality
while she got to resume her normal
life. It is an outrage, as I am sure you
are aware, that this lenient plea deal was even put on the table. I sure hope that
it is not the plea bargain that is presented to her! I believe that she needs a
stricter punishment for the pain that she caused that day. Her actions affected
almost everyone that lives on the 7100 block of Calamar Drive. I know for
certain that I will remember that day for the rest of my life. That day she
sentenced Jeremy to life… to a life filled with doctor visits and surgery, to a
life of adaptation to do things that Rhonda most certainly takes for granted.
She sentenced him and his family to a life forever changed. I know that life in
prison may not be the appropriate sentence for her but I strongly believe that
the possible plea at present is just a smack across the face for the Bruns
family and a smack on the wrist for Rhonda. Which hurts more, a smack on the
wrist or a smack across the face? The victim should not be the one punished, the
criminal should.
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