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Our Story...

On December 16, 2002 Teri Bono was taking her usual walk through her neighborhood. Walking on the
sidewalk she had just reached a speed sign only two blocks from her home, when she heard screeching
bakes and saw an SUV barreling around the corner our of control and headed directly at her. The SUV
hit and drug her for almost 30 feet into the street then spit her out underneath the tires. Leaving her lying
in the middle of the street, the SUV sped away.

Through a miracle, Teri's life was saved because a man taking a walk 50 feet behind her witnessed the
whole thing and ran to her aid. Shawn McLaughlin saved my mother's life as he ran to her in the middle
of the dark road and stopped oncoming cars that were headed right for her. Shawn had witnessed the
whole thing. Shawn started screaming after the SUV to stop. The driver hit his brakes for a brief
moment, and then sped off, leaving car parts and my mom laying in the road. Shawn was screaming so
loud that neighbors from the surrounding houses came out to see what was happening. Our entire
family will be grateful to Shawn for the rest of our lives.

Teri lived through this near fatal incident but sustained serious injuries. She experienced pain so
excruciating that she did not realize someone could live with it; she prayed to die to make the pain stop.
She could not move her legs and thought she was paralyzed and suffered critical injuries including
numerous broken bones, cuts all over her body, and tire marks across her back and hip. Our family
hardly recognized her in the hospital because of the extreme swelling. Teri spent a week in the hospital
and begged her doctor to go home for Christmas, which he unwillingly agreed to.

A hospital bed, wheel chair and other equipment arrived and was placed in her living room next to the
Christmas tree. Can you imagine what kind of Christmas we had that year? Grateful my mother was
alive, but feeling so helpless at seeing her in so much pain. She was bedridden in order to avoid surgery
on her pelvis. And so this new life of pain and suffering began for Teri and continues to this day. She
slowly had home physical therapy then advanced to intense painful physical therapy three times a week
for almost a year. Even with this intense physical therapy she still ended up needed surgery on her knee
and shoulder. Thank goodness for family and friends, they were wonderful, bringing food and gifts. Her
children were home for the holidays from college, and her daughter from out of town had come home.
The family took turns at night sleeping on the couch next to the hospital bed. When the kids went back
to college, her friends took turns coming over everyday and sitting with her so her husband could go to
work. Her 75 year old parents came from out of town to baby sit while her when her husband had to
go out of town for one week. All the pain medications upset her stomach very much, and she could not
hold any food down and she lost so much weight. The entire experience was very horrendous and
humiliating. The nightmares were horrible; the sounds of the screeching tires would not stop playing in
her ears.

The accident has devastated Teri’s life, and she struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which
many victims and survivors of violent crime experience. The neighborhood that Teri had loved and
become very involved in through tennis and neighborhood functions had become her war zone. Before
the accident Teri was very active and healthy, and she rarely went to the doctor nor took medication.
In 2003 alone Teri had over 80 doctor and physical therapy appointments. In 2004 she had over 60
appointments plus two surgeries. In 2005 my mom still is getting treatment for her shoulder and knee.

**The information on this site is based on factual information as well as expresses our opinion**