Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2005 > December > 18 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USParents’ ‘whys’ need answers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At first, he didn’t know his Mom and Dad.
Uncle Ron was a stranger, too.
Trevor Q. Sanford has gotten better at recognizing family, but he’s still not quite all there.
“When you talk to him, you still see that look in his eyes,” said Tim Sanford, his father. “My son is 15 years old, and he’s got to relearn things he learned when he was 2 or 3.”
We’re at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, in the parents’ lounge, down the hall from room No. 418, which is Trevor’s. He’s in the brain trauma unit. He’s been there since Dec. 9. Before that, he spent four days at Gwinnett Medical Center.
His left eye socket is fractured, his vision blurry. He’s having to relearn things. To walk unassisted. To say his ABCs and recite colors. To remember the good times, like his first plane trip to Plano, Texas, to visit Uncle Ron.
All because of a random act of violence.
On Dec. 6, the Meadowcreek Mustangs played the Grayson Rams. Trevor, a sophomore, had ridden his new bike to the Meadowcreek campus. After the basketball game, he hung out to talk to some girls. A security camera caught what transpired between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. that night. School officials told Trevor’s father what it shows:
Trevor walks out of the gymnasium. A student grabs him and restrains him from behind. Another student punches Trevor — it’s unclear how many times — in the face. Knocks him cold. The attackers scat. His bike disappears. School officials try unsuccessfully to revive Trevor with smelling salts. Paramedics eventually transport him to Gwinnett Medical Center.
According to a campus police report, Darron D. Dalton, 16, struck Trevor in the face, while Corrddaro B. Thomas, 18, restrained the victim. Like Trevor, they attend Meadowcreek High. They’ve been charged with one count each of aggravated battery and may be tried as adults, school officials said.
Maybe his attackers will wise up and realize something — that actions can carry grave consequences. That, in this case, their victim may never be the same. That they need to control their emotions, jealousies or whatever bugs them without resorting to violence. In this case, cowardly violence.
Remember Jonathan Miller?
In 1998, the Cherokee County teen was convicted of felony murder in the death of 13-year-old Josh Belluardo. When Miller was 15, he hit Belluardo in the back of the head during in a school bus fight. Miller got a life sentence.
Trevor’s father said his son didn’t know his attackers.
“This wasn’t a fight,” said Sanford, who runs a cleaning service. “It was a mugging. I guess the major question I have is, ‘Why?’ “
And details, well, they’re hard to dig up. Try getting information from the Gwinnett County School system. It’s like pulling teeth.
The recurring comment from the school district spokeswoman has been that gangs played no role in the attack. I wasn’t allowed to talk to Rolando Jiminez, the campus police officer who handled the incident. The principal didn’t return my call.
“The investigation is still ongoing and we are still working to determine the reason for the attack,” an e-mail from the spokeswoman stated. “However, there is nothing to indicate that it was gang-related.”
Good.
But that makes no difference to Tim and LeVette Sanford. It’s their son who had to take an MRI on Thursday. He’s the one who has to undergo speech and occupational therapy.
Trevor’s dad is a burly man who’s coached football in the Meadowcreek school cluster.
“I’m scared,” he told me.
“And my wife, she’s very angry. Trevor didn’t know who I was for three or four hours, and for seven or eight hours, he didn’t even know his mother. He’s had a good life. I don’t want him to not be able to remember the last 13 or 14 years of it. He’s been reduced back to the age of a 3- or 4-year-old.”
In better days, Trevor sang in the choir at Friendship Baptist Church in Duluth. He assisted with the youth ministry. He holds a fifth-degree red belt in karate. I am told he’s kind and courteous — character traits you’d want your children to have.
“Nowadays, I think it’s hard to have a kid who’s ‘soft,’ and by soft I mean respectful,” said Ron Sanford, Trevor’s uncle, who flew in from Texas, on Wednesday. “Trevor is just a nice kid.
“Every kid should have a chance at three squares a day and a good family structure. Unfortunately, these things don’t always happen. It makes for an unfortunate situation, not just for my nephew, but for any kid who has to go through this pain.”
On Thursday, Trevor and other patients on his floor did a little window shopping at Lenox Mall. It was their therapeutic outing.
“Today was fantastic,” Sanford told me later that night. “It was almost like he was back.”
Almost.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Bruce Wilcox
December 18, 2005 08:53 AM | Link to this
It’s sad that society hasn’t advanced from the stone age when it comes to violence. We have senseless acts of random violence, the death penalty, invasions, war, family violence, all repeated daily in the media. It covers all aspects of society with all kind of excuses, including religion.
Could it really be just a primal instinct?
By Michael H. Smith
December 18, 2005 10:35 PM | Link to this
It is very hard to make a comment on this blog subject, as a father having gone through the experience of a child who suffered a sever head trauma, and knowing that for the Sanford family no answers given will ever truly suffice for their “whys�. However, if human spirit can elicit the healing balm of time to be applied to another, then let longevity of days work its’ mystery to provide a speedy recovery for Trevor, ease the pain now deep in the hearts of the Sanford family and dry the bitter tears from all of their eyes so they may once again see brighter, happier times.
By Lilburn Parent
December 19, 2005 02:19 PM | Link to this
To: Mr & Mrs. Sanford…. Please know that I cried my eyes out for the both of you, and your son… his siblings, and other family members. Then I composed myself and prayed for your family. To get thru this it will take a great deal of strength, and a strong belief in God.
YOu ask “WHY”… it is as his uncle stated he is “soft” in my opinion it is defined as “GOOD MANNERED… GOOD YOUNG-MAN… from a FAMILY that LOVES HIM!” Please know I mean no “disrespect” to your son. I have a “soft” son too! I married a man who was probably considered “soft” because he loves his family and acts responsibly. We are living in a time where movies like “Get Rich or Die Trying” and CD’s like “Massacre” are hot items for teens! This is HORRIBLE. They both promote violence!
I sincerely hope they find the thugs that did this. I can then only hope that someone with strong values is sitting on the jury when they are tried for this crime. Until then I will keep you and your family in prayer. I sincerely wish there was something I could do to help!
By Mary
December 19, 2005 05:29 PM | Link to this
I am so sorry that this happened, but, I used this child’s picture to explain to my son why he wasn’t allowed to go to Meadowcreek to watch our team play them not long ago.
By danielle
December 19, 2005 06:26 PM | Link to this
You know, this is the reason every long time residents of Gwinnett say, “Gwinnett schools are changing for the worse..” If people make the choice to move and live and attend the scools in this area, they need to live up to the expectations that have been here for years instead of bringing the area down. This violent act should have never happened. People NEED to have the strength to walk away. Parents should teach this from the child’s early years. Fighting solves nothing. I hate hearing how black males are not treated right in society when this is how they solve their problems and prove their “manhood”
By Meadowcreek Student
December 22, 2005 12:44 PM | Link to this
I’m really sorry about what happened to my fellow student as well. I actually knew him and one of the students that attacked him. However, I don’t appreciate what one mother commented when she said she used Trevor’s picture as an explaination to her child about why he couldn’t go to Meadowcreek for a basketball game. She makes it sound like all of Meadowcreek has nothing but senseless, violent individuals. As a Meadowcreek student, I will admit that Meadowcreek has its share of boneheads, but what school doesn’t? This could have happened at any school. People need to stop focusing on the reasons they think Meadowcreek is so bad and focus on how to make it better.
By Tim Sanford
December 22, 2005 09:49 PM | Link to this
Hi, This is Trevors’ dad and I would like to let all of you know that Trevor will be coming home in the morning. Thank you JESUS. Maybe we can have some kind of Christmas. Thank you all for your comments and keep us in your prayers. The blessing we are in need of at this time are financial. Any and all that could be done will allow us to have a x-mas. Again, thank you all for what you are doing to aid my family at this time, God Bless.