35

Boston, Massachusetts
September 20, 1983

In the late hours of September 20, 1983 all that could be heard were the sounds of metal colliding, tires screeching, broken glass, and one panicked scream. There were two cars one was a red BMW convertible and the other was a blue Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro had run a red light and broad-sided the BMW, causing it to spin fifty feet in to a light post. Lights and sirens began to flash as blood began to cover the windows of the BMW. Paramedics loaded the victims into the ambulance and took them to nearby Boston Mercy. The injured were twenty-eight year-old Elizabeth and her twenty-nine year-old Ben Hunnicutt. The driver of the Camaro was not injured. He was arrested at the scene for reckless endangerment, and driving while intoxicated. When inside the hospitals the doctors contacted the families and notified then of Elizabeth and Ben's conditions. Fortunately everyone was in town for the Winchester's upcoming thirtieth anniversary in which the couple were renewing their wedding vows. The families all sat in the waiting room, in anticipation. Finally at three a.m. Elizabeth came out of surgery, and regained consciousness an hour later.

"Mom? What happened? Why are you crying?"

"You were in an accident, you broke your right leg, you have three broken ribs, your nose was broken, and you have thirty stitches in your forehead."

"How's Ben?"

Margaret looked at her husband and began to cry even more, to the part she couldn't speak.

"Sweetie, he didn't make it," cried Hawkeye

"Oh my god! No, no, no, oh god, no. How?"

"The seat belt he was wearing malfunctioned and he was ejected through the windshield. He hit his head and had had internal bleeding. The doctors hunny tried to stop the bleeding but there was just too much blood," Hawk explained between his tears.

"When?"

"One twenty-seven a.m."

"Where are the kids?"

"They with Charles and Isabella."

"Why do bad things always happen to good people?"

"I don't know, Betsy, I just don't know."

That night Elizabeth Hunnicutt lost her husband and the Hunnicutt's lost their son. Hawk and Margaret stayed by her side the entire night, and were later joined by B.J. and Peg. They all grieved that night for Ben. The Hunnicutt children lost their father that night, and would grow up never really knowing their father and how wonderful he was. Elizabeth and the Hunnicutt's wouldn't let Ben's memory die. The driver of the Camaro that killed Ben and wounded Elizabeth was sentenced to ten years in prison. Elizabeth was devastated, but she overcame and became an advocate pushing for stricter laws against drunk driving.