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Our Luck Ran Out; Let's Make Safety No. 1 Priority

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

PLANT CITY - It was a magical night: Crystal clear, the backdrop of black-blue sky sprinkled with glittering stars.

The streets of downtown were lined with families who claimed their piece of real estate along Collins Street as much as 12 hours before the Plant City Christmas Parade took to the streets at 6:30 p.m.

The mood was festive; the sounds of Christmas and children's laughter filled the air.
Police cars with their sirens blaring preceded the parade's arrival as people waited eagerly for the parade.

For city, county and state officials it was a time for hellos and other pleasantries.

For youngsters, it was a time to scramble for candy and beads. It's an occasion when children can often run in front of traffic without getting in trouble.

Sitting atop her grandfather's shoulders, a little girl cried out, "Please! Please!" to the passing floats, hoping for a string of beads to sail magically over the outstretched arms of those in front of her and come to rest in her small hands. Evidently, the formula had worked twice, two bright strands of beads already adorned her neck.

But she wanted more.

So did everybody else.

When you mix children with the competition for candy and beads, and they maneuver among traffic for treats, you're playing a dangerous game.

"The kids see the candy and beads as a treasure, and they'll run straight into the street for it," said Bill Tommolino of Plant City, who brought his wife, Maria, and their 3-year-old son, Evan, to the parade. "It's as though they have tunnel vision when they enter the street. They don't pay any attention to the huge floats and the big four-wheel pickup trucks coming down Collins Street."

Frank Labarbera, founder and co-chairman of the Christmas parade committee said, "Although over the years we've never had any serious accidents, each year there are close calls when kids rush onto the street for candy."

This year, luck ran out.

About 8:15 p.m., as the parade was coming to its end, it happened.

For many of the spectators the first indication that anything was wrong came when the parade stopped and fire and emergency medical units found their way through the line of floats to Collins and Laura streets.

What they found was horrific.

Jordan Hays, a 9-year-old from Inverness, was returning to the Greater Heights Family Worship Center float to retrieve more candy when his foot got entangled with a tire of the float and he was dragged underneath.

Jerry Bridges and Johnny Knotts of Plant City were among the first to kneel beside the injured child.

Knotts told a Tribune reporter, "People on the east side of the street were screaming. It was obvious that something horrible had happened. I ran to the other side of the float and saw the boy lying under the trailer."

Bridges, Jordan's cousin, and Knotts, owner of a hardware store near the accident scene, removed the boy from under the float and began to administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

When fire rescue personnel arrived, Knotts left and found a place behind a nearby building where he began to cry.

A short time later, Jordan was pronounced dead.

There's no easy way to tell the story of the death of a child. There's no other event that tugs at the heart with more anguish.

Tragedies confront people every day. But there are some things you never get used to, including the death of a child. We want to believe that children are born to play and be happy, smile and grow, not to die.

But sometimes they do, and it's the unkindest cut of all.

So it was last Friday morning when a group of people from the Plant City community, led by Mayor Rick Lott, traveled to the Floral City United Methodist Church to attend Jordan's funeral.

Children aren't supposed to die. They are supposed to hang out with friends, tease their sister, challenge their parents and respect their elders. They are supposed to graduate from college, discover the world, get married and watch the joy of their own children grow.

Jordan will never experience those times.

It just seems so unfair, so unjust; the lost potential, the unfulfilled dreams, and the loss of all that might have been.

City Manager David Sollenberger has called on Police Chief Bill McDaniel and Fire Rescue Chief George Shiley to review the accident and recommend changes in parade rules.

Their report is scheduled to be released in early January.

My advice to the city manager: The current practice of enticing children onto the streets with the promise of candy and beads is unsafe and should be banned.

Our children need the support of responsible adults to look out for their interest, and that includes their safety.

It should be our No. 1 priority.

Correspondent Jerry Lofstrom can be reached at jdlmcl@aol.com.

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