12-Year-Old David Taylor Is Released From Hospital, As He And His Dad Confront Tremendous Loss Following Car Crash That Killed His Mom, Brother
By Jermont Terry
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CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — David Taylor, 12, left of the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital on Monday – wearing a cast and hobbling, but alive.
He had been there nearly a month after being injured – and losing his mom and baby brother – when their vehicle was hit by someone driving a stolen car.
CBS 2’s Jermont Terry was there as David and his dad faced life with half their family gone.
David is a tough kid – he fought hard to get out of the hospital, and he is home in just enough time to attend his mother and baby brother’s funeral this week. There is pain inside and out, but David is determined to press on.
He walked out of the hospital Monday after 22 days as a patient there.
“I can’t wait to get home,” David said.
His father, Sebastian, was at his side – securing him in a vehicle extra tight – because the last time the family rode together, tragedy hit.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” said Sebastian Taylor.
The father and son survived the late-June hit-and-run crash. David’s mother, Selina, and his baby brother, Sebastian Jr., were killed.
“I’m sad my mama and my little brother are gone, but I’ll push through,” David said.
He is pushing through the physical scars after dozens of surgeries, including a skin graft, which he had to undergo from the injuries he suffered when two men in a stolen maroon car slammed into the family in their Monte Carlo at Pershing Road and State Street.
David was thrown from the vehicle. His father will never forget the men getting out and standing over David – and then leaving.
“You seen him, and you left him there for dead,” said Sebastian Taylor. “You see him now? It’s the strength.”
David’s has shown the strength to stand and press on – and more importantly, he keeps comforting his father – telling him one thing.
“Just stay strong,” David said he tells his dad.
Indeed, a father is now leaning on a son.
“It let me know – it’s not me, it’s him,” Sebastian Taylor said. “This is my strength.”
As David and his dad headed home with a huge void in their hearts and their household, they are hoping a break in the case comes.
“I’m a little sad,” David said. “I’m not going to let it put me in a deep depression.”
They also hope the people in the stolen vehicle are found.
“Just do the right thing, man. Turn yourself in,” said Sebastian Taylor. He said he hopes “that the person responsible for cutting our family in half is being dealt with, in the judicial system.”
It is going to be a long road for a full recovery for David, but his father told Terry he will stay at his side. Meanwhile, after nearly a month at the hospital, David said he is looking forward to eating his grandmother’s mac and cheese.
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