Mom's "Nagging" Text Saves Baby in 50 MPH Crash
When Rebecca Tafaro Boyer texted her husband to fix their baby's car seat straps, he rolled his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, that adjustment saved their son's life in a near-fatal collision.
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Rebecca Tafaro Boyer spent her first day back at work after maternity leave doing what new moms do best: worrying. She asked her husband David to send hourly updates about their 3-month-old son William.
When David texted a photo of William buckled into his car seat on the way to Walgreens, Rebecca immediately spotted problems. The straps were too loose and the chest clip sat too low.
David likely laughed at his wife's text and rolled his eyes. But he tightened the straps and adjusted the clip anyway.
Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca's phone rang. "Honey, we had a car wreck," David said. "We are fine, but the car is going to be totaled."
Another driver had pulled into traffic to turn left near their Memphis home. David hit the car's front passenger door at nearly 50 miles per hour.
David ended up on crutches with three shattered bones in his foot and three dislocated toes. The car was completely destroyed.
William didn't even wake up. The properly secured Britax car seat absorbed the impact so well that the baby continued his nap, then spent the next two hours flirting with nurses in the emergency department.
Rebecca posted the story on Facebook at a friend's request. It was shared more than 45,000 times.
The Ripple Effect
The story sparked a wave of awareness about proper car seat installation. When readers identified William's Britax BSafe 35 car seat, the company offered a free replacement since car seats can't be reused after crashes.
Rebecca and David had already replaced it through insurance, so they asked Britax to donate a seat to the Forrest Spence Fund, a Memphis nonprofit helping families of critically ill children. Their original crash-tested seat went to the NICU at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital for car seat safety education.
Rebecca told TODAY her message was simple: the difference between a properly secured infant and a loosely buckled one can mean the difference between a nap and a tragedy. "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 wrote.
As for David, Rebecca had one prediction: "My husband says, 'I'm never going to live this down, am I?'" She laughed and confirmed he was absolutely correct.
Sometimes the most annoying reminders turn out to be the most important ones we'll ever receive.
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Based on reporting by Upworthy
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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