by Carla Brainard, Jacob's mom.
October 5th is Jacob's birthday

It was a cloudy day in October, the Razorbacks were playing the usual Saturday game on TV and my husband was adamant about watching the game. So, we headed to town for game day snacks. Just as I entered the store, my oldest son Jonathan called. He said Jacob (my middle son) had been in a crash on the farm where he was working. Jonathan reassured me that Jacob would be ok, but I should meet them at the hospital.

On our way to the hospital, I just had this feeling that things were not OK. I kept having waves of terror and panic rush through me. We finally arrived and Jacob was not there. I learned that once Jacob arrived, he would be air lifted to the University of Arkansas Medical Science in Little Rock.
 
Once airlifted Jacob’s condition worsened so the helicopter detoured to Pine Bluff where another hospital was located. We headed there too, and I just knew…my baby had died. My heart was torn into a million pieces, but my mind said, you must hold it together for Johnathan and my youngest son, Brannon. Once we arrived, we were sent to a room off to the side of the waiting room, “The family room.” This just confirmed my worst fears that Jacob had died. When the doctors came to tell me what I already knew, I turned my back because I did not want to hear what they had to say.
 
When Jacob was killed, my world went dark. He was my sunshine. I never in my wildest dreams thought I could ever bury my son, my best friend, my go to guy. I was numb.

Now what?

I wanted to know what happened to my son. Why was he dead and exactly what actions took place that would cause such grief and pain? I started asking questions. The first thing I learned was that Jacob was standing in the back of a truck while working on the grain buggy attached to a tractor. The tractor’s driver recklessly pulled the grain buggy (a huge massive machine) over the back of the truck causing Jacob to fall underneath the grain buggy crushing my son.  

I couldn’t understand why the tractor driver would do something so dangerous. Was he intoxicated, on drugs, was he incompetent, did he know what he was doing, WHAT?? I went to the Sherriff’s office and demanded an investigation into the crash. The Sherriff agreed, however, no evidence was ever collected, the crash site was not protected, and no alcohol or drug test was given to the tractor driver.(read more)