From Deseret News archives:
Painful odyssey: Family still struggles 28 months after Magna tragedy
"Do you have any pets?" the visitor asks.
"No," the small voice utters. "We used to have a dog, but he died. My brother did, too. His name was Buddha. We used to wrestle."
My birthday is on: 10-14-97
My family calls me: Buddha
— Worksheet from first week of kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary School
Six-year-old Darius Joseph Smith was killed instantly.
The impact of the crash knocked out his big brother, Desmond. His teeth were broken. Doctors found a fractured leg, damaged knee and a concussion when the 11-year-old boy they call "Desi" arrived at the hospital. The boy's ear was nearly torn from his head.
Buddha's dad, Earl Smith, was knocked unconscious, too. He awoke to see a little body under a sheet.
No one saw Buddha's sister, Autumn, at the accident scene that night until they heard her crying out softly for her teddy bear. The 9-year-old was wedged between the car's front tire and a chain-link fence, her face down in the dirt and her legs twisted horribly right-side up.
She had a broken right femur and a double compound fracture of the left femur. One bone in her lower leg was broken, too, and road rash covered her body. Her spine was injured, and she had swelling and fluid on the brain. She had a concussion, and her front teeth were knocked through her lip.
What is worse, Autumn never lost consciousness. She remembers being hit, being pinned against the fence and being airlifted by Life Flight. She also remembers seeing the small black car that hit her, the flashing lights and the stark sight of a white sheet covering a small figure as the helicopter ascended.
— Tory Lee Jacques to Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy Michael Lee the night of the crash.
It would be comforting to be able to say the Smith family is on the road to recovery, that the two injured children are past the worst of it.
