Rest In Peace- My Daddy & My little Brother

by Liz Laukaitis

On Friday September 28,2007 My father Paul A. Laukaitis Sr. and My brother Paul A. Laukaitis Jr. were killed by a drunk driver. They were on their way to our camp in Oil City, PA with my mother. They were 8 minutes away from our camp when a drunk driver crossed the center line on a dark 2 lane road and hit them head on. He was 2 times over the legal limit and was going 80 mph. My Dad & brother were killed instantly & my mother was life flighted to the hospital in critical condition. My brothers dog, Yay-Yo was also in the van. He survived the accident and was protecting my family. My mother spent 2 1/2 weeks in the Intensive Care Unit with multiple injuries to every part of her body. Both her right & left legs were completely broken, she had head trauma to the left side of her head, a gash on the top left side of her forehead, a broken left wrist & fore arm, a tear in her stomach, liver, diaphram and left lung. And a shartted left knee. Also many black & blue marks & lacerations. She is on a ventalator, feeding tube, trake and many,any medications. Due to this jerk who killed my Father & brother my Mother was unable to attend their funerals....she never got to say goodbye to them. She wasn't even stable enough for us to tell her about my Father & Brother's deaths for 2 1/2 wks after they died. We had to tell her in the I.C.U. I never expected them to go that night, I figured I'd see them on Monday when they came home from camp. But this loser had to go & get drunk & drive that night- taking my Dad's & brother's lives. And he broke all of our hearts. My Mom has suffered soo much pain from this- emotionally & physically. The driver also lost his life that night. 4 people driving along & only 1 made it thru the accident. It's a shame that my family had to lose our loved ones this way...it hurts so bad to know that this never had to happen!! My Father was a retired City of Pittsburgh Police officer and my brother was a 27 yr. old ,fun loving and easy going kid you'd ever meet. I miss them soo much & don't understand why this senseless act had to happen. All I know is nothing ever makes sense until it hits home!! I am so aganist drunk driving now..and all the pain my Mother & family went thru because of one person who decided to go out & get drunk and drive. I will never see them again now because of this one person.