I opened it.
The first page was a newspaper article. A photocopy. From the Kansas City Star. Dated three years ago. October.
The headline said:
UNIDENTIFIED COUPLE KILLED AFTER PULLING BOY FROM BURNING CAR ON I-70
I couldn’t breathe.
I read the first paragraph. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t stop.
A man and woman who stopped to help at the scene of a single-car crash on Interstate 70 near Concordia late Saturday night were struck and killed by a passing tractor-trailer moments after pulling a 12-year-old boy from the burning vehicle, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The boy, who suffered serious burns, was transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and is expected to survive. His mother, who was driving, was also injured.
A young child in the couple’s vehicle, which was parked on the shoulder, was unharmed.
The names of the deceased have not been released at the request of the family.
