Iowa boy seriously injured in drunk driving crash makes remarkable recovery
An Iowa boy seriously injured in a drunk driving crash is making a remarkable recovery. Eight-year-old Javen Sorensen was hospitalized last February with broken bones and a fractured skull after a drunk driver crashed head-on into Javen and his mother
By Javen Sorensen
Click here for updates on this story
MINBURN, Iowa (KCCI) — An Iowa boy seriously injured in a drunk driving crash is making a remarkable recovery. Eight-year-old Javen Sorensen was hospitalized last February with broken bones and a fractured skull after a drunk driver crashed head-on into Javen and his mother, Danyel Hardisty, near Perry. Hardisty, 39, died in the crash.
“It’s the most intense grief I have ever endured,” said Kristine Hardisty, Danyel’s mother.
Hardisty’s family is now fighting for tougher penalties for repeat drunk drivers in Iowa. Stephen Wink was charged with homicide by vehicle and serious injury by vehicle for the Feb. 2 crash. A Dallas County judge sentenced him to a total of 30 years in prison on Oct. 1.
“It’s really upsetting. It doesn’t feel like justice because he was given so many opportunities,” said Amanda Holste-Strayer, Danyel Hardisty’s sister.
Wink had been barred from driving with 22 prior offenses on his license at the time of the crash that killed Hardisty.
“What was he thinking? All these times he’s been given all these warnings and he keeps on doing and doing,” said Kristine Hardisty, Danyel’s mother. “He’s never been offered treatment in a lot of the other counties. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Someone has a rap sheet like that … get them in and try to fix them.”
Javen is now out of the hospital and back in school. He can run and play, something his family was unsure would ever happen again. The 8-year-old also has a cochlear implant for hearing loss he suffered from the crash.
“It is remarkable. And he’s very brave. Very brave,” said Kristine Hardisty. She is now raising her grandson and plans to remind him daily about his mother and the impact she left on the world.
“We just had what would have been Danyel’s 40th birthday on Oct. 18 so you make a cake and you sing happy birthday and you still talk about how wonderful she is … was,” Holste-Strayer said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
