Claim: Parents of a murdered Virginia Tech co-ed unthinkingly back over another of their children on the way to the airport.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, April 2007]
I just got off the phone with a sweet friend that is going through some major hard circumstances right now (of her own). However, she just found out that one of her best friends in |
Origins: This e-mailed account of a sad double tragedy reached us within a day of the
The tale is an out-and-out fiction — nothing about it checks out. Texas news sources were silent about any of those
murdered at Virginia Tech being from that area. There were no news stories surfacing in the
A 19 April 2007 Associated Press list of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre contained
The woman who penned the e-mail did so on
In the summer of 2007, these related tales began circulating in
Just a note to ask for a prayer request..... Heavy Duty. Michael, still working in Alabama, called today with some upsetting news, and to ask for special prayer for a young man that is employed at the plant there in Tuscaloosa. Late Tuesday afternoon, the young man was out in the yard playing ball with his two boys, (ages 6 & 8 I think). When the youngest boy missed the ball, he ran under the deck to retrieve it. When the little fellow screamed, the oldest boy ran to help out, then he screamed. Both boys had been bitten several times by rattle snakes. The ball had landed in the middle of a snake bed. A 911 call was made, but the couple was afraid the boys would not make it. The two boys were placed in the family car in an attempt to "beat the clock". In all the excitement of trying to hurry, the young father ran over his PLEASE stop right now and pray for this young couple and their families. [Collected via e-mail, August 2007] Prayer for faith to remain strong for an Oklahoma family with three boys: their 4 & 6 year old boys were outside playing ball, it rolled under the house, the both boys were bitten by a rattlesnake parents came out to see what was going on, got in the car to rush to the hospital, ran over their The family are Christians. [Collected via e-mail, September 2007] My Pastor told us this horrible story yesterday at church. I thought I wasn't going to make it thru the sermon after he told it. Please pray for this family. I cannot imagine going thru this. It just broke my heart for them. I do not know this family as they live in Texas but someone at the church was connected to them somehow. This family had two small children who were playing in the yard when one little boy decided to crawl under the car. When he did, a copperhead bit him in the face. In their frenzy to get him to the hospital, they ran over and killed their other little boy. The child bitten by the snake died on the way to the hospital. They lost both children within minutes. The family's name is Henson. Please, please pray for this family and put them on your church prayer list if you have one. I don't see how they will live thru this except by the grace of God. Thank you for your prayers for this family.
[Collected via e-mail, July 2007]
Once again, news sources were silent about these stories — there were no news accounts about two children being bitten by snakes, let alone about them dying, or with the added detail that in their haste to secure help for the snakebit youngsters, their parents managed to back the family car over another of their children.
There have been real instances of children who died after vehicles driven by their parents were backed over them in the family driveway. In January 2008, a Longmeadow, Massachusetts, woman backing out of her driveway in a sport utility vehicle ran over her
It's worth noting those 2007 tales about grief- or panic-stricken parents unthinkingly causing the death of another of their children bears some resemblance to a well-traveled urban legend about the arrival of a telegram announcing the passing of one family member sparking off a cascade of mayhem that leaves all dead.
Barbara "deadly imaginings" Mikkelson
Last updated: 19 November 2010
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