The Tragic Accident
The country lifestyle is such a relaxing experience that allows for children to experience the open wilderness without the dangers of strangers and speeding vehicles. But, the alternative can be much more dangerous. Living on our small farm I couldn’t begin to imagine the type of hazards we would encounter. We had cattle that needed to be taken care of so the need for a tractor to move hay, endless amounts of mowing in the summer, snow removal in the winter, the go-cart the kids would spend hours on, garden tilling and chainsaws all required the need for gasoline. No matter what the season or the chore the need for gasoline was mandatory making my children no stranger to one of the most hazardous chemicals located on farms.
I was heading out of the house on my way to work by 6:30 on a brisk September Saturday morning. My husband was still sleeping and I rushed off to work as I always did. My boys were early risers and they must have gone outside right after I left. It had rained the night before, making it a bit chilly so early in the morning and you would need a light jacket. As a family we often sat by the fire at night for family quality time. Christopher convinced his brother to go to the backyard where they would start a small fire in the fire pit. They did this our traditional way which was by using newspapers and matches but due to the previous night’s weather the logs were wet and the fire just kept smoldering out.
Christopher then went inside the garage and grabbed an old 5 gallon plastic gasoline container and sprinkled a little gasoline over the logs. A small fire formed, nothing alarming. Christopher backed away from the fire pit but was standing next to the portable gasoline container still while my other son was standing further away. All it took was an ember from the fire to come in contact with the fumes that were being released from the portable gasoline container. Unknowingly, Christopher was standing in a vapor cloud. The old plastic gasoline container exploded like a bomb showering him with burning gasoline. The blast was so powerful it threw my other son Chad backwards.
At this point I had only been at work for 15 minutes and at 7:15 sharp, my husband called me with the life altering news. He said, “You need to come home now, there was an explosion and Christopher was burnt over 90% of his body.” As I was driving home, my husband called me again and said they took him by ambulance to the soccer field and they are waiting for life-flight to arrive and take him to the University of Iowa Burn Center.
Only one parent was allowed on life flight, so the decision was made that I would ride with him on the helicopter. I quietly begged God not to take my son. I knew by looking at him that the chances of surviving this horrific accident was questionable, but I pushed that thought aside and believed that once he made it to the burn center a miracle would somehow happen. I believe it took 45 minutes to fly from the soccer field to The University of Iowa Burn Center. Christopher was taken straight to the emergency unit and I had to wait in a hospital room. I remember hearing a child crying in another room and the nurse came in to tell me that the child crying was not my child and she apologized for the disturbance.
I remember thinking “I knew it wasn’t my child, because my child was dying”. About 30 minutes later, I was taken into an employee break area and the doctor proceeded to tell my husband (who was on the phone) that Christopher would not live much longer. After hearing her confirm what I already knew, I went into denial and told myself that the doctor was wrong and there is no way my son is going to die and I promised him he was going to play basketball and come home to be with his brother. He needed to come home because who would wear these camo clothes in his closet? Or catch all of the caterpillars and butterflies in our yard? We needed him here for our family camping trips and I needed Christopher to leave with me. The unbelievable reality is that my 10 year old son died from his injuries 5 hours later. He was a brave little boy right up to the end.
The following weeks were a complete blur. Christopher was buried in a shiny white casket fitted for his miniature size. During the visitation we had to have a closed casket due to the seriousness of his injuries. There were Sharpie markers provided for everyone, so they could write one last message to Christopher on his casket forevermore. To this day, his clothes are still in his bedroom closet with his brand new navy/gray camouflage pants that he never got to wear but was so excited to. Before this accident I took life for granted and I never thought something like this would happen to my family. My husband and I went to great lengths to always keep the boys safe especially with us living on a farm.
About Christopher
Christopher was a vibrant, energetic and happy young man who had a smile on his face. We ritually went camping with any free time we had. One summer we made it our mission to see how many campgrounds our family could stay at and we actually managed to stay at 6 different camping sites. One thing about Christopher is that he absolutely loved his grandma. My mother took early retirement to take care of both my boys while I had to work. Her dedication to them didn’t stop there though. When Christopher began taking piano lessons my mom would drive him 27 miles every week for practice. He was truly gifted with being able to play beautiful melodies that I sure loved to hear playing throughout our home.
Christopher’s bestfriend was his older brother Chad and they’re past time consisted of many hours on the go kart. When the tires needed to be repaired Christopher would get a jack, take the tires off and ask his grandma to take them to the local tire shop for repairs. The two brothers were inseparable and had each other’s backs. Even as kids they had big plans of building their houses right next to each other. Although it’s sad to see how quick he was growing up, I always admired how he had no fear of anything whatsoever.
THE LEGACY OF CHRISTOPHER ALLSUP FOUNDATION, INC. 