In memory of my nephew John-David Amero

This article is from:http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1065180.html
WEYMOUTH — When Anthony and Lorraine Amero received a phone call saying their two young boys had been in an ATV accident, they ran to the scene.
Cutting through the gathered crowd, Ms. Amero, a nurse at a seniors home, joined those trying to perform CPR on her 15-year-old son, John-David.
"They tried, but then they said, ‘He’s dead. There’s no hope,’ " Mr. Amero said in a phone interview Monday evening.
"John-David was a heavy boy. A real heavy boy. And when he hit the ground, that was it."
The 15-year-old was killed Sunday night when he rode his ATV into a steel cable strung across a logging road near Weymouth. His 12-year-old brother Joel was on the back.
The accident took place near Highway 340 in Weaver Settlement, an RCMP news release said Monday.
Paramedics responded to a call at about 9:15 p.m. and pronounced the teenager dead at the scene from a traumatic head injury. They treated Joel for a minor abrasion on his arm, said Paul Maynard, spokesman for Emergency Health Services.
Mr. Amero said John-David loved to tinker with cars and engines. He had recently given up trying to restore an old white car in the family’s yard, moving on to his father’s old pickup truck. He was excited about going back to school in the fall, and his father said the boy was a whiz with computers.
John-David and Joel had bought the video game Rock Band last week. Mr. Amero said he was glad the two boys had that time to share the game.
"My wife found out he could sing," Mr. Amero said with a faint chuckle.
Mr. Amero said family members from across the country are all home. John-David had four brothers and four sisters, along with dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. John-David loved to spend time with his older siblings, his father said. One sister lives in Moncton and John-David was to go there for a Bible conference this weekend.
Mr. Amero said the family’s focus is on Joel, who received minor scrapes in the crash. He said the two boys were incredibly close.
"I wouldn’t say he’s good," Mr. Amero said of Joel, his voice breaking. "With the crowd here, all the family, he’s not . . . but if you get him alone, he’ll stare.
"He said, ‘Dad, I’m really going to miss John-David.’ And I said, ‘Joel, I know you’re going to miss him. But we got to get around this. We got to get around this.’ "
By Monday night, at least three Facebook groups had been created in John-David’s name. Shocked loved ones shared remembrances and condolences on the online forum as news of his death spread.
"This is an extremely hard time," his uncle, Darnell Amero, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle Herald. "John-David, who is also often referred to as Jay, was a kind-hearted person. He was very soft-spoken and easy to talk to."
Darnell Amero wrote that John-David once told him he wanted to be a sumo wrestler. He also said his nephew was always willing to help with tasks such as "hauling firewood."
"It didn’t matter if it was a good or bad situation, he always wore a natural smile," the boy’s uncle said.
Anthony Amero said the two boys went out on the ATV without permission when he and his wife weren’t home. The boys were not allowed to ride the ATV on Sundays, he said.
It’s not known whether John-David had received any training in operating an all-terrain vehicle.
That issue has been a hot topic since last week, when the provincial government pulled an about-face on providing small ATVs specifically for training young people.
The Tories planned to spend a quarter-million dollars on the child-sized machines, but the move was panned for reasons ranging from the high cost to controversy surrounding whether children should be learning an activity that doctors says is inherently dangerous for young people. The province dropped the training program and is now trying to recoup the cost of buying the machines.
Natural Resources Minister David Morse, who took over the ATV file from Health Promotion and Protection Minister Barry Barnet after the kerfuffle, was not commenting Monday on this most recent ATV death.
Natural Resources spokeswoman Jennifer Gavin directed reporters to the Off-highway Vehicles Act, which states that no one under age 16 is to operate an ATV unless directly supervised by a parent or guardian and properly trained in off-highway vehicle safety.
The act is available online at www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/statutes/offhighw.htm.
( dstevens@herald.ca)
( klipscombe@herald.ca)


Donations to help on funereal and expenses would be greatly appreciated. You can donate at : http://www.potandtorch.com/johndavid.htm

I need to get my act together

it has been so long since I've written on here.

Well the Pediatrician says My oldest son has aspergers...March we have a final appointment before full diagnoses. I must say I have considered cancelling this appointment because my son fears having anything wrong with him. He's to the point that he won't sit next to my younger son because he doesn't want people to think he has autism too.

He's doing much better in school...aside from trying to make deals with the teacher to get get out of detention and having to do his work.

Any suggestions, advice, comments on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

School

Well school has been a very positive experience for Elijah. He gets on the bus anxious to go, and they bring him home at 11:30 crying to go back! School has helped him so much, I see more change in him everyday! We wait for the bus each morning without me having to hold his hand. He seems so independant. I know he has far to go, but his beginning has been such a sucess.

This little boy is my everything! I want him to be the best that he can be! I wish I could just be in his head for awhile and know if he even understands how much I love him. Today i was acting out the fool with him and mistakingly hit his loose tooth in the front. It started to bleed and I apologized over and over to him and hugged him, but after that he was not interested in playing any longer. I really got the longing to be in his head and know whether he understood I was not actually trying to hurt him.

Well i am now starting the same road with my seven year old. We have an appointment on wednesday to the pediatrician to check him for a problem. He is very smart, just a lot of trouble focusing his attention. Our fam. dr. thinks he's just bored with the work, but he has other little quirks about him that indicate something else is going on. We shall see.

test 2

test

PRT winding down

You know how when you've been away from home for a long time and you start the journey back, there's a little bit of excitement, but then when you know your five minutes away you get this real anxious quivery feeling and can't seem to get there fast enough?

Well, I have that feeling this month. The 14th will mark a year since PRT, and my life (which seems to have been paused) will resume. I have this giddy feeling in my stomach...like let's end this already!

Elijah's made some progress. He's able to pay attention now, and he really tries to talk. He has said: bubbles, bounce, pep(for pepermint), and others that I fail to remember at the moment. the words he says consistently: Hi, Poop(LOL), milk, awter(for water), and mom.

The whole point of this blog entry is this: PRT IS ENDING!

~on another note, prt means Elijah will start school.

My sweet daughter

I had to share with everyone the sweet letter my 9 year old daughter stuck in my card yesterday. Keep in mind that she goes to french school and so her english writing isn't spec-on. Doesn't matter what spelling mistakes she made, it hit the spot.

WOW what a weekend

Elijah "Buggie"

Evelina "Evie"

Arless and Michael best friends being little snipers!

Mom, Me, Diad

My beautiful sweet mom Turned 70, so we had her a b-day party on friday! Then on saturday her whole crew(there must have been close to 100) people went back to help clean around her yard. We had such a blast!!!! However with all the raking I did I certainly paid for it that night and the next day.

I am now on a two week break from PRT, house cleaning. Or trying to. Tomorrow(Thursday) is mine and Cliff's anniversary and we plan on spending Friday night away. My sister will be coming to our home to watch the kids for us. this is the first time we've ever did this without the kids and I'm a bit nervous and excited at the same time.

Well it's late and I must sign off.

~R