Thomas Clayton

-Chris Hunt 

The accident occurred during the early morning hours of July 5. Thomas and his parents, Mark and Cathy Clayton, were leaving a relative’s house in Sherman, Texas to attend a funeral in Memphis, Tennessee. They were traveling East on U.S. Highway 82 (a narrow, two lane road), in a green Ford F-150. Thomas lay sleeping in the back seat with his seatbelt off, while his parents sat in the front debating which route they should take through Memphis. At that moment, a white Ford Contour traveling westbound drifted dangerously across the double yellow lines and smacked head on into the Clayton’s truck.

“I had no visual warning, because it happened so fast,” Mrs. Clayton said. “I couldn’t tell if I had seen the flash of him coming at me or the flash of the airbags going off.”

Upon impact, the Clayton’s truck began to roll and Thomas was thrown around within it. 

“I just remembering thinking ‘Oh god, no’ as I rolled in my seat,” Thomas said. “No longer was I seeing glimpses of an overgrown median or an expansive field leading to houses.  I was seeing the black of pavement, and then the same scenery, yet I was level with the road.”

The truck rolled several times, covering a distance of 250 feet before finally landing up right near the edge of the road. But before coming to a rest, Thomas was thrown out of the left passenger window and onto the center of the highway.

“I felt a blinding pain on my head and then I was flying,” Thomas said. “Panic left, and peace enveloped me.  The illusion of teenage invincibility was gone as I thought one thing: ‘I'm about to die’.”  

Someone did die in the accident. It wasn’t Thomas, or his parents, but the driver of the Contour, Jerry Don Johnson. Johnson had been driving to work when he fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the car. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.    

Meanwhile, Thomas found himself very much alive but in a extreme amount of pain. Blood was streaming down his head and his shoulder was throbbing. But despite the pain, Thomas found the strength to stand up and run back to the car to check on his parents.

“I hurried to the driver's side, where my father was,” Thomas said. “He and my mother were both groaning in agony, blood on both of them.” 

Mr. Clayton, who was pinned by the dashboard, told his son that he had no memory of the impact.  He also said that something was burning his leg and that he would have to push himself out of the driver’s seat. 

“The last thing I remembered was driving down the hill, thinking that there was a lot of traffic coming up,” Mr. Clayton said. “Then I woke up and Thomas was trying to talk to me at the window. The steering wheel was up at the ceiling and the dash was destroyed. I also realized that my leg was sticking through the floor and that it was burning. I then pushed myself into the back seat and eventually crawled out the window.”“

The last thing I remembered was driving down the hill, thinking that there was a lot of traffic coming up,” Mr. Clayton said. “Then I woke up and Thomas was trying to talk to me at the window. The steering wheel was up at the ceiling and the dash was destroyed. I also realized that my leg was sticking through the floor and that it was burning. I then pushed myself into the back seat and eventually crawled out the window.”   

Ambulances arrived on the scene minutes after the accident, tending to the Claytons’ minor injuries. Thomas suffered a dislocated shoulder, as well as numerous scrapes and bruises on his body, while Mrs. Clayton had a broken collar bone and bruises. Both were released the day of the accident. Mr. Clayton, however, was moved to Parkland hospital in Dallas with three broken toes, a cracked tibia, two broken ribs, a 22 millimeter laceration on the liver and various cuts and burns on his legs. 

Mr. Clayton was released a few days later and the family returned home to Austin to heal their wounds.

I’m thankful we’re alive,” Thomas said. “The accident has shown me to live life more completely and not stress about the small things.”