Chris Ferguson’s return from Iraq was supposed to be a joyous occasion.
The soldier finished a yearlong stint in war torn Basra, only to return home to family tragedy, the Southtown Star reports.
His parents, Carole and Donnie Ferguson, were going to meet his plane in Colorado. They hitched up their vehicle, packed up Chris’s borther's son and drove from their Midlothian home west toward the Rocky mountains.
Just 70 miles from their destination, however, Carole became distracted and drove off the rode. The car flipped. Chris’s father , a veteran himself, was killed instantly.
Carole, and the toddler, had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital to treat their injuries.
Ferguson's mother-in-law, Dawn Frazier, said that he is not doing well.
"My son-in-law comes home from Iraq expecting to see a happy family, and he has a tragedy facing him," she said to the Southtown Star.
His toddler is ok, just some cuts. Carole was released from the hospital after arm surgery, but now she faces criminal charges in the accident.
"From the marks in the roadway, she was distracted by talking to her husband and just veered off the shoulder," Trooper Scott Boskovich said. "She was talking to her husband, next thing she was off the side of the road and rolling."
She'll have to return to court in Washington County, Colo., in 60 days, he said.
