An 87-year-old grandmother who was sadly crushed to death by her own car had been in the vehicle for 20 minutes praying before the disaster struck.
Joan Behan, a beloved grandmother of 10 and devout Christian, tragically died on Wednesday following the freak accident.
Described as active, healthy, and sharp for her age, Joan was a regular at the gym, often attending multiple times a week.
She had just completed a two-hour workout and was praying inside her blue 2013 Toyota Corolla in the driveway of her Gravesend home on Wednesday, per the New York Post, when she ended up getting run over by her own vehicle.
According to her son, David Behan, tragedy unfolded when Joan left her vehicle without properly securing it.
The car rolled backward, fatally crushing her as she walked behind it. The incident occurred around 3:00PM on West 10th Street, leaving Joan with severe head and torso injuries.
Emergency services rushed her to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, but despite their efforts, Joan could not be saved.
Her son, David, recalled her routine, stating: "Before the accident yesterday, she just came home from a two-hour workout. She stayed in the car in her driveway for about 20 minutes to pray. She always did that."
Reflecting on her life, David shared that his mother had worked as a teacher's aide and was a cherished mother figure to her family, which included four children, 10 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
"She made everybody’s life always very happy — no matter who she spoke to," he said. "She had a happy saying about everything. Everybody loved her."
Joan's daughter, Jennifer DiGrazia, spoke to the New York Daily News, about the devastating circumstances in which her mother died.
"[The detective] said that she, like, slumped over in her own lap," recounted DiGrazia. "I said, 'Maybe she was going to pick something up?' and he goes, 'That’s what I thought, but we never saw her lift up.'"
Detectives suspect Joan may have suffered a medical episode, rendering her unable to secure the vehicle properly in the sloped driveway.
"I knew [she died], I felt it," DiGrazia expressed. "Everyone said, don’t jump to conclusions. I just felt if my mother got dragged under her own car, and she’s 87 — you know. I lost it.
"She was always there for her children, even as an adult," DiGrazia fondly reminisced. "You just always knew that life was going to be OK because, no matter what, you had her. She had your back."
Joan was crushed by her Toyota Corolla. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty
Joan had plans to move to Florida in the fall with her daughter, where they had recently purchased homes across the street from each other, fulfilling a long-held dream of being together in their later years.
"It was the dream, and it was my mother’s dream," DiGrazia shared. "She wanted to live with me and my daughter because she knew she was getting older and her mobility was going. She was [going to] be taken care of by her children and her granddaughter. She couldn’t wait."
Our thoughts are with Joan's loved ones at this time.
A 77-year-old died after being run over by his own car during an alleged argument about a parking space.
According to the New York Post, Iosif Lontsman, a 77-year-old grandfather, was accidentally run over and killed by his own Subaru Forester after he got out to confront another motorist on the road on Thursday (April 25) in New York City.
The pair were allegedly caught up in a heated argument over a parking space at Avenue W and Ocean Avenue in Sheepshead Bay at around 4:30PM when the tragedy happened, as confirmed by sources as well as a preliminary report filed by the New York Police Department.
The report stated that Lontsman left his car in drive before exiting it to engage with the other driver, a younger woman, when his car started rolling before hitting him and the Nissan, where it eventually came to a stop.
Sources at the scene confirmed that the 77-year-old was pinned between the two vehicles, suffering injuries to his head as well as his legs.
He was unresponsive and unconscious when first responders reached the scene.
Lontsman was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn where he was pronounced dead, the Post added.
Credit: D-Keine/Getty
Footage from surveillance cameras showed the incident playing out, which aided the authorities with their investigation.
So far, no arrests related to the accident have been made.
Speaking of the incident, Lontsman's son Mark stated that the family found it hard to accept the news of their loved one's death.
“We all find that it’s just very hard to accept what is being told to us,” the son said. “He was a person who was dedicated to his family,” Mark added, describing his father as "selfless."
“He was always doing stuff for his family and friends, for other people,” he told the outlet.
The family immigrated to the United States in 1989 from the old Soviet Union in hopes of a better life.
"It was a difficult life for all of us,” he said. "I was still a teenager, as was my brother, so my dad and my mom at the time, they worked to build a new life in this country."
Lontsman is survived by his two sons and two grandchildren, who are aged 12 and seven. His wife passed away eight years ago.
A grandmother has been charged with the death of her granddaughter who sadly passed away at the same residence that her brother died at less than a year previously.
Tracey Nix, a 65-year-old former Florida principal returned home from lunch with her friends in November and began playing piano inside her home.
As reported by CNN, Tracey explained that she "just forgot" about her seven-month-old granddaughter, Uriel Schock, in the back of her SUV with the windows rolled up.
Tragically, with temperatures reaching 89 degrees Fahrenheit that day, Uriel lost her life in the back of the car while her grandmother was inside the home.
Kaila Nix, Uriel's mother, had entrusted the care of her daughter to Tracey while she attended a hair appointment.
Tracey became alerted to the fact that the seven-month-old was still in the car when her grandson came around and her husband, Nun Ney Nix, immediately administered CPR.
Sadly, this isn't the first loss that the family suffered at the location, with Uriel's brother Ezra drowning in a nearby pond less than a year previously when he was 16 months old.
Kaila opened up about her heartbreak to CNN, stating: "To think of the last moments of her life as a mother is gut-wrenching," with Uriel's father, Drew, adding: "And that it actually just f***ing happened twice. In our lifetime."
During the investigation into Ezra's tragic death, information was withheld from Kaila at her own request. "They withheld information from me, per my request, per my doctor’s advice, that any information that would work me up or make me emotionally distressful would be harmful to my unborn child," she explained.
"And I knew in that moment that as much as I loved [Ezra], that [Uriel] was a real life and she was coming and it would be wrong of me to lose her over him and hurt her and take her."
Following Ezra's death, Kaila and Drew didn't trust Tracey to look after the children unattended and wouldn't let their daughter go to her home.
"We were anxious, but I loved my mother and I am a daughter that wanted her mum in her life in some capacity, and in that moment, I thought that I could believe in second chances," Kaila explained.
"When I was told that Ezra’s death was an accident, some sliver child part of me, thought, okay good, I get to keep this mum. This grandmother. This person."
Tracey was asleep at the time that Ezra drowned, and it wasn't until Uriel sadly lost her life that Kaila was made aware that there were attempts to file charges of child neglect against the 65-year-old for the death of Ezra.
A comment from a police officer remains in the memory of the grieving mother, as she stated to CNN: "I was told unless I believed that my mum held my son’s head under the water and intentionally killed him, that there is nothing else that they can do about my son’s death."
Tracey's lawyer, William Fletcher, has stated that the grandmother is "devastated" about the deaths of the two children. If she is found guilty of Uriel's death, she faces between 12 to 30 years behind bars.
In the wake of an unimaginable tragedy in Oklahoma City, an online fundraising campaign has sprung into action. The fundraiser aims to support the bereaved family of Locklyn and Loreli Callazzo, the 18-month-old twins, who tragically lost their lives in a devastating pool accident.
The heartbreaking incident occurred in the early hours of March 16. Jenny Callazzo, the mother of the twins, tragically discovered them at the bottom of the pool.
As reported by the Daily Mail, firefighters arrived at the scene to find a distressed Jenny administering CPR to her tiny toddlers, who had fallen into the pool at around 10:45AM local time.
The Callazzo family - which includes Jenny, her 42-year-old husband Sonny, their grandmother and six children - reside in their Oklahoma home. At 1:00PM, just a little over two hours after the horrific discovery, the twin toddlers were tragically declared dead.
According to reports in the Daily Mail, a relative disclosed that Jenny's grandmother, suffering from Alzheimer's, may have unintentionally left a door open, permitting the toddlers access to the pool.
Local authorities have initiated a thorough investigation into the event, stressing that at this stage, it appears to be a tragic accident with no indications of foul play.
Neighbors expressed their shock and grief at the unfolding tragedy, recounting the understandably distraught mother's state to News 4.
On such neighbor, Mike Bernard, told the outlet: "It's certainly disturbing. And, you know, my prayers go out to that family because little children are precious.
"They brought out two little children and put them in separate ambulances. And they were doing CPR on both little children. I saw the mother who was distraught, who got in an EMS vehicle."
Laura Gamino, Injury Prevention Coordinator for Trauma at OU Health, expressed her deep condolences and used the unfortunate incident as a cautionary reminder about pool safety.
The official GoFundMe page, launched to alleviate the financial strain on the family in the wake of this tragic event, carries the poignant message: "These beautiful babies were taken from us too soon. Anything you can give to help with expenses would be greatly appreciated. We appreciate everyone's love and support."
Credit: GoFundMe
In a testament to community spirit and compassion, over $20,000 has been raised at the time of writing, surpassing the target of $15,000 with donations from 247 generous individuals.
Credit: GoFundMe
Our hearts go out to the Callazzo family during this difficult time.
A mother has opened up about her grief after her son died when she forgot him in a hot car.
Raelyn Balfour, now 52, had only realized she had forgotten to drop her nine-month-old son Bryce to his child minder after receiving a call from her asking how he was recovering from his cold, assuming that was why he hadn't been dropped off to her.
As the carer asked how he was, Raelyn responded: "What do you mean? Bryce is with you," before running out to her car in a panic as she tried to remember what she'd done that morning.
Tragically, when she arrived at the vehicle, she saw that Bryce was in his car seat, unresponsive.
Her nine-month-old was accidentally left in the back of her car while she went to work. Credit: Ryan McVay/Getty Images
She told Fabulous magazine: "I got to the car and my nine-month-old son was still strapped into his car seat.
"He had been there all day. He wasn't moving or breathing. I was hysterical. I screamed for help and for an ambulance."
She immediately started to administer CPR until the ambulance arrived and rushed Bryce to hospital, all the while Raelyn was "wracked with hysteria, it felt like I was living in a nightmare.”
Tragically, despite medics fighting to revive Bryce, he was declared dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The incident happened in March 2007 when Raelyn was 36, and the family was living in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Raelyn had driven to work but forgotten to drop Bryce off at the babysitter's home as she usually did each morning.
Bryce had been in the car for seven and a half hours when Raelyn found him, and despite it being just a mild 64 degrees Fahrenheit outdoors, it was ruled that he'd died from hyperthermia inside the car.
Police said that temperatures inside the vehicle could have reached 98 degrees in just 40 minutes of her leaving the car, which is enough to kill a baby inside.
Raelyn, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband Jarrett, 45, and their four children, Christopher, 31, Braiden, 16, Isabella, 15, and Chase, 14, revealed that the guilt of what happened eats at her every day.
She revealed that she still has the "memory of seeing my son not breathing every day," even though it has been 17 years since Bryce died.
"No parent should have to deal with that. No one should have to try to save their child's life from their own terrible mistake," she added.
"I live in hell every day. I live in pain everyday remembering the horror of what happened - the grief and the loss and the knowledge of what I had forgotten.
"It’s a nightmare you never escape from."
She added that as well as having to live with her own guilt, she also faced cruel judgment from strangers who did not "believe" it was an accident.
Raelyn, who formerly served in the military, was arrested and charged with second degree murder on the day of Bryce's funeral, and faced a potential life sentence of 40 years.
She revealed that she was not even able to grieve for her baby son properly as she was forced to "prove I hadn’t killed him" instead.
The car seat had been moved out of Raelyn's line of vision, combined with sleep deprivation and a different stop on her way to work made her forget she hadn't dropped Bryce off. (stock image) Credit: jenjen42/Getty Images
Raelyn also faced judgment from people assuming she was a "bad mother" or had "abused" the baby, but her legal team had argued she'd suffered a "false memory" on the morning of Bryce's death as she "distinctly remembered" having dropped him off at his child minder, despite it not having happened.
She explained: "I distinctly remember dropping off Bryce at the babysitter's before driving to work that day.
"Then I worked all day confident in the knowledge he was safe with the childminder, I was utterly convinced he was there."
False memories can occur when someone remembers and event differently to how it happened, or appears to have a memory of something that never happened at all.
Experts testified that in Raelyn's case, dropping Bryce off in the morning was so routine that her brain had filled the gap in her memory that day, with Raelyn saying there were a few factors which threw off her routine that morning.
She cited being sleep deprived from being up all night with Bryce, who had been unwell with a cold, as well as the fact that her husband had fitted the new carseat behind the driver's seat in her car instead of where it usually was - behind the passenger's seat, which would have been in her eye-line.
She would also usually have had Bryce's diaper bag in the front seat, but had moved it to the back because she'd dropped Jarrett at work that morning, adding: "His nappy bag would have been a trigger for me if he was still in the car. It wasn’t there for me to see like normal."
Experts claimed that Raelyn's brain had interchanged the stop off she made to drop Jarrett to work - which was out of her ordinary routine - with dropping off Bryce.
The baby had also been asleep when she arrived at work, so she didn't hear him in the back of the car, and walked in to start her day as usual.
Raelyn was acquitted by a jury in January 2008, but she says being found innocent "didn't change anything" with regards to how she felt, admitting her "world had fallen apart".
She and her husband Jarrett supported one another through the tragedy and went on to have three more children together,
This year would have been Bryce's 18th birthday, which brought up renewed "grief and sadness" for his mother.
She revealed that she'd made him a promise as she held him for the last time in hospital after his death, that she would dedicate her life to raising awareness of car safety for children and babies in his memory.
Raelyn now campaigns with the charity Kids in Cars, which educates parents about the dangers of leaving children in cars even for short periods of time, as the temperatures inside can quickly reach fatal levels.
She added: "Babies like Bryce cannot regulate their body temperature like teenagers and adults can. A cool temperature is as life threatening as scorching summer sun.
"I paid the ultimate price and I will never have real peace again, I am begging people to be careful.
“The only time I will be able to make amends properly is when I see him in heaven."
A Wisconsin mother tragically died in a car accident just hours after she attended her husband's funeral, with family members believing "she is with" her husband.
Sara Nowak, 42, attended a funeral for her husband Louis on April 1 who sadly passed away after a battle with cancer on March 19, as reported by CBS affiliate WDJT-TV.
Louis and Sara tied the knot in 2017 and had six children between them, with Sara's mother Patricia Cartwright telling WDJT that the pair was a "true match".
Louis discovered that he had cancer six months before he died, with his obituary stating that he "worked for MediCare Ambulance for 25 years doing Children's Hospital Critical Care Transport," before taking on work as a school bus driver so he had time to focus on his own business as a handyman.
Just five hours after attending his funeral, Sara was involved in a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 106 just before 8:30 PM, as reported by ABC affiliate WKOW.
Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath revealed that the driver of the vehicle lost control and entered a ditch before the car overturned, killing both people inside.
Patricia told WDJT: "I don't think she could be without him (Louis). So, she is with him."
Sara, Louis, and their family. Credit: GoFundMe
Part of Sara's obituary read: "Sara didn't have friends, everyone was family. She never had a full house because she always had room for more.
"Most of all, Sara loved taking adventures with Louie and the kids making memories that will last a lifetime."
A GoFundMe page has been set up in order to support the couple's family after their deaths, specifying that their six children need support with funeral and housing costs.
A fundraising page was set up to help the six children the couple leave behind. Credit: GoFundMe
The fundraising page has currently raised just over $16,000 out of an intended target of $50,000 by 318 donors, with people sending in messages of condolence.
"I had the honor of supporting Sarah and many lively, loving family members through Louie’s end of life. Sarah was a gem of a person and truly showed her strength, compassion and love throughout that time.
"Strong hugs to the family. You have each other but also know you have so many prayers and so much good energy coming from all around you as well," one message read.
Our thoughts are with Sara and Louis' loved ones during this difficult time.