By Ray Negron
In the song beautiful boy, John Lennon say “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Ain’t it the truth?
Police Officer Jon-Erik Negron. (Credit: Ray Negron)
At midnight Friday, I was talking to my oldest son Jon-Erik talking about plans for the next couple of weeks. Last year as a police officer he helped deliver two babies. We were talking about the fact that I would be at a Police Foundation ceremony where they are going to honor him. We talked about the fact that he was looking forward to going to spring training to see this great Yankee team.
At four in the morning the phone rang and the caller ID showed his number. When your son is a police officer, this is never good. So, I took a deep breath and said,”What happened?” He initially said, “I am ok. I’m at the hospital. A drunk driver plowed into me while I was writing a ticket. Thank God I was in my police car.” I asked him, “Are you sure your okay?” He said, “Yes and that he wanted to tell me before I saw it on the news.”
I asked him if he wanted me to come to the hospital but he told me that his mom Barbara and her husband Jerry were already there. I told him to call me when he left. After we hung up I put on the local television station and within the hour they showed the accident and my son being rolled out on a stretcher. They showed the drunk driver’s car completely totaled. When I saw this I had to call him and as crazy as it sounds, he was already back at the police station doing his report. The next day, he was telling me about how sore his neck and back were.
Credit: Ray Negron
I prayed a lot this weekend, thanking God for sparing my sons life this weekend. At one point, I got a text from my ex-sister in law, Carmen Webb, saying “God is Good!” I couldn’t agree with her more!
I told Jon-Erik that now he must deliver the message about drunk driving. Also, not to waste time being angry with the driver of the other vehicle. Hopefully she can get help with her problem so that it doesn’t happen again. When you look at the pictures of the accident you can see how horrible this could have been.
With that being said, as a parent I urge all other parents out there to please speak to your children about drinking and driving. It doesn’t matter how old they are, they are always our children. I feel terrible for the young lady that injured my son because now her life is pretty much ruined forever in so many ways.
This is not the first time that someone that I love was involved in this type of accident. One that all of you do remember was the Great Yankee Manager Billy Martin who died in a drunk driving accident. Billy was like a father to me and I have never gotten over it. I couldn’t imagine if my son, an innocent bystander, had lost his life because of this craziness.
I will only say that we must all be responsible for ourselves and for those that we love so that we don’t become a statistic. I am grateful that I can pray to God tonight and thank him for my son being okay and that he is a part of the master plan.
Now I can still go the his ceremony where he will meet the babies that he helped bring into this world and of course we have to see the new Murderers Row in Tampa.
If you are a parent, please do yourself a favor and listen to John Lennon’s song ‘Beautiful Boy.’ Then give your kids a hug. If they are away, then give them a call or text just to let them know how much you love them. Remember that in this crazy beautiful life nothing is guaranteed NOTHING !
Ray Negron is a community consultant for the New York Yankees and organizer with Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner of Hanks Yanks a program that enables youngsters to play organized baseball in the NY area. Listen to Ray Saturday-Sunday at noon on ESPN 1050 AM Impact.
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