Man I hope the kids will be ok. The guy has got to be feeling like shit knowing that he injured two children and possibly could've been worse.
Wife and I were in a car accident with our first, our son when he was 8.5 months old... distracted driver in an early 80s Olsmobuick sedan hit us going 55 as we had just stopped and missed hitting the car in front of us. Rain-slicked highway, the whole bit.
Thankfully, my wife who was driving turned the wheel which allowed much of the energy to be dispersed by pushing the car into a spin as opposed to simply compacting us.
We had a little Honda Civic hatchback, the first ever hatchback with a unibody construction and the way it crumpled saved my son's life. He sustained a Y-shaped skull fracture.
We ended up at separate hospitals as we both had to be removed by the Jaws of Life... wife was fine, but for some very sore forearms.
I came out of the ER and the kid and his mom were in the waiting area.
You know when they say that forgiveness is for you, not the other person? Yeah... I forgave the young man on the spot as he admitted to trying to change the radio station and never saw the red lights. It allowed me to get to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and focus oh the miracle that was about to happen.
1) no baby boy over the age of 7 months had their brains heal from a TBI and so the treatment protocols reflected that. My son at 8.5 months after the swelling went down had most of his partial paralysis go away (complete left hemiparesis) and the Drs actually asked to use him for a paper. Now, whenever a young boy over 7 months is brought in with a TBI, this treatment protocol may be different as a result of my son.
2) the miracle part I won't get into (religion or politics), but yeah in my arms... couldn't be any closer to it unless it happened directly to me.
Anyway, all that to say that I've been there as a parent... in the ICU... worried sick... in desperate fear of that dark place that is losing a child that the wife and I would eventually confront just over 3 years later. I will definitely pray for the family and those kids.
They've got a difficult journey ahead of them, for sure.