Colorado family shares sons fatal text

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is extremely difficult, but for the Heit family, they hope sharing their son’s tragic story will help prevent similar accidents in the future.

On April 3, 2013, Alexander Heit, a 22 year old Audiology student at the University of Northern Colorado, lost control of his vehicle on a sharp turn while travelling eastbound on “O” street and rolled several times.

Witnesses stated the driver appeared to  have his head down as the vehicle began drifting into oncoming traffic

Alexander was later transported by ambulance to North Colorado Medical Center, where he died shortly after.

Following Alexander’s death, officers investigated the accident scene where they discovered the boy’s cell phone in the vehicle. On the screen, a  text message conversation with a partial response typed.

The text message was never sent.

“I can’t bear the thought of anyone else having to go through something like this,” said Sharon Heit, Alexander Heit’s mother.

“Please vow to never, never text and drive.”

Currently, texting behind the wheel in the U.S is illegal in 39 states. In Canada, all 10 provinces have some form of legislation in place. Cell phone laws, however, are rarely enforced. And many drivers continue to text and drive, despite legislation and public announcements.

For the Heit family though, they hope sharing their son’s story will help prevent such senseless and avoidable accidents in the future, and make people realize that, yes, this can happen to you too.