Parents share heartbreaking story of accidentally killing son

Bayers and his wife Amanda sat down with a local television crew to tell the story of how they lost their son, made worse by the fact that it was a terrible accident that might have been prevented.

Brian Bayers said after moving his truck, he hopped out of it and bounded toward the back door, only to see it wide open, with Jackson nowhere in sight.

After calling out his name several times, Brian went back outside and saw that his son had been killed instantly as he backed toward the house.

"I went flying out the back door basically to see him on the driveway, and um … he had already been hit at that point in time and I had backed over him,” said Brian Bayers. “I never saw him at any point in time. Jackson was hit by the front wheels of the vehicle backing up. When the front wheels back around, he essentially walked right into the side of the vehicle.”

The pain of losing their son has been almost unbearable for Amanda, who said she cradled him for hours after he died.

The couple had tried for more than 3 1/2 years to get pregnant with Jackson, and said their goal now is to spread the word to other parents about how common these types of accidents are.

According to statistics provided by kidsandcars.org, 50 children are backed over by a vehicle - usually by a family member or loved one - every week.

The couple have started a GoFundMe account to pay for a park in Jackson's honor.

"You always think ‘this can't happen to me,' but, it can," said Brian Bayers.