My family was wiped out on the school run – my kids were gone in seconds & I couldn’t get pregnant again
A MUM has told of her devastation after she lost all of her children in minutes on the school run.
Brittany Ingle and husband Shane were left heartbroken when they lost twins Mason and Xzavier, six, and their elder sister Alivia, nine, after they were hit by a truck as they were crossing the road to the school bus.
They desperately wanted to have another baby after the tragedy, but Brittany, 34, from Indiana, had undergone a medical procedure after the birth of her four children and couldn’t carry another baby.
The accident happened one morning in October 2018, as Brittany waved the three children off to school.
GONE IN AN INSTANT
Speaking in this exclusive interview, Brittany recalls: “I waved my kids off to school and I was due to take my eldest daughter Selena to the doctors later that morning.
“Seconds later I heard the crunching of metal and screams.
“In a blind panic I ran out the front door and down towards the bus stop.
“I had no shoes and socks on, but I knew I needed to get there. I could see the bus with its lights flashing and people in the road.
“There was a man in the middle of the road, holding a little boy in his arms. And nearby there was a Paw Patrol rucksack, just like the one Xzavier had been carrying.
“I literally froze. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion.
“Then I realised the boy in the man’s arms was Mason. I ran over to him in disbelief.
“There were another two bodies lying with him. One was Xzavier and the other was Alivia.
“She had been thrown 87 feet into the air by the truck which had ploughed into them as they were all crossing the road to get onto the bus.”
HORRIFIC ACCIDENT
Brittany had lost all three of her children in a matter of seconds.
“There was nothing that could bring my children back to me,” she continues.
“All three had been killed when the truck ploughed into them.
There had been 14 children crossing at the time and the truck which had been in the distance, had failed to stop.
The driver, Alyssa Shepherd, had hit the group, killing Brittany’s three children and injuring another one.
“My life just stopped the instant that I lost my children in October 2018,” she remembers.
“My husband Shane, 33, and I didn’t know how we would carry on.
“The only thing that got us through it was Selena and our faith.
“The community and our church were an amazing support for us, and we had to try and learn to move forward with our lives.
“We owed it to our three beautiful angels.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Shane and Brittany campaigned and managed to get the MAX Strong Law – named after the first letters of their three children – passed to improve bus safety, implementing same side pick ups and drop offs, so that children don’t have to cross the road.
“Our family was ripped apart, but having got this law passed helps make things easier so that our little ones will always be remembered for making a difference,” says Brittany.
What is the Max Strong law?
The law is designed to keep children safe at their bus stops in several different ways.
- It promotes same side pickups and drops off to prevent children from having to cross high speed roads or highways.
- It increases penalties for drivers caught ignoring a stopped school bus.
- It allows schools to petition for funding to pay for stop arm cameras and will require more awareness about school bus safety laws.
Source: ABC
But while the new law was of great comfort to the family, Brittany still felt something missing in their lives.
“As the years passed, Shane and I talked and decided that we really wanted to have another baby,” she says.
“I missed the constant chatter and bustle of having a big family, and we wanted Selena to have another brother or sister.
“But I’d had the lining of my womb removed after having given birth to my four children, to help improve a medical condition, and it meant that an embryo couldn’t possibly stick to my womb anymore.
“So I couldn’t carry a baby myself.”
STRANGER’S MIRACLE
Brittany wrote about her plight on Facebook, and then one day she had the most amazing message.
It was from a woman called Keri Fox who lived just minutes away from her.
Keri had tragically lost her eight year old son Gideon also in a road traffic accident, and had reached out to Brittany when she had first lost her babies.
“We’d kept in touch, and now she wanted to do something amazing for me,” says Brittany.
“She told me she knew the pain I was in, and she would do anything to help me become a mum again.
“I couldn’t believe that she was offering to do it, but Keri was adamant to be our surrogate.
“She spoke to her husband Jeremy, 46, and he was fully supportive of what she wanted to do.”
In November 2022 they had their first implantation, using Brittany’s eggs, fertilised with Shane’s sperm, and transferred it into Keri’s womb.
I missed the constant chatter and bustle of having a big family
Brittany Ingle
“For two weeks, we waited on tenterhooks, and then cried with disappointment when we found out it hadn’t worked,” she says.
“Two months later we had another go, and this time it worked. Keri was pregnant.
“It was amazing news. Her pregnancy went smoothly, and we went to scans and appointments together.
“Then at 12.30pm one night, two days before my birthday, Keri phoned me to tell me her waters had broken.
“Shane and I raced to the hospital and I was by her side as she delivered our son into the world.
“When he was handed to me it was the most amazing moment.
INCREDIBLE GIFT
‘We called him Psalm – Mason had been clutching a medal in his hand when he had been hit by the truck, and on the back was engraved a Psalm.
“We felt like this was the name chosen for our baby boy.”
The two women have remained close friends following their experience and the family is moving on from the tragic events of 2018.
“Keri and I are so close, she pops round to see us and we do lots of family outings together,” Brittany adds.
“Alyssa Shepherd only served two and a half years of her four year sentence, but we try not to focus on that. Instead we are looking forward.
“We have got our law passed and we have our son Psalm.”
Keri, 37, adds: “I knew Brittany felt so empty without her babies. I knew the agony that she was going through and I wanted to help her have happiness again.
“Losing both of boys meant that to be able to bring her back a boy was extra special. We are so close now, we are like sisters.”
