Me/Father in fatal RX-7 acccident
 

Late last night(October 26th) around 11pm I left my girlfriends house because I was starting to get tired and I didn't want to drive my 'new' '94 Vintage Red RX-7 while I was half-awake. As I was walking inside to my house, my parents pulled up, coming home from a concert at the Houma Civic Center. I told them hi and that I was going to bed. Around 11:30-11:40 my dad called up to me from downstairs, "Brandon! Let's go for a ride in your car! ...but only if I drive!" Well I got dressed again, since I was already in bed, and me and my dad got into my car and drove off. As we pulled out of my subdivision he went through the gears...grinding 3rd...and then about 4 miles up the road he stopped at a gas station and gave me a complimentary fill-up. Thanks, dad! Then we left, driving on a road that bordered a bayou. He was testing out the capabilities of the car about 70% since I had just purchased it 4 days earlier from a seller in Houston. We turned on a bridge that crossed the bayou and headed back towards the house on an adjacent road on the opposite side the bayou as before. He was going around 70-80mph when there was a hump about 3 1/2' high coming up on a slow left hand turn with a slow right turn right after. He started to take the slow left. We hit the hump. The springs compressed. The springs rebounded as the hump was receding. My dad turned the wheel to the right and the back end started sliding out. My dad muttered, "Oh fuck..."We were sliding completely backwards now...towards the bayou. I heard a loud CRASH, noticed a slight fall(about 4 feet), then I felt water rushing inside the car. My window was open, but his was closed. We were both buckled in. I manged to get out of the car before my head even went under the water...which I still don't know how I managed. I screamed my dad's name ...no reply. Then as I was treading water, I felt the car hit my foot. I immediately tried my hardest to swim under and grab my dad loose. No dice. I swam to the shore and ran to the closest house which was around 400 yards away. I yelled at them to call 911, which they did. Once I got back to the scene it had been 10 minutes at the least. I alredy knew he was gone. Ambulances, police, firetrucks, a wrecker, tons of people were there. I didn't want to look when they took the car out of the bayou, but the paramedic said he was still buckled in.

The happiest day of my life(getting my RX-7), was immediately followed by the worst. This was the first time someone close to me died ...and damn was he close to me. Before we wrecked he was just commenting on how fast it was and how amazing it handled. "It just sticks to the road like fly on flypaper," he said.

My father's name was Wayne Rushing. He owned his own want-ad paper called "The Weekly Want Ad's." He was only 50 years young. He had so many plans to look forward to.

In the coming days I'll try my hardest to get a picture of the car(before/after), the wreck scene, and of my father.

Please guys. Slow down on public roads. You NEVER expect things like this to happen when you go out for a 'fun drive' with your girlfriend, best friend, mom/dad ...whoever. I don't want anyone to go through the shit I'm going through right now.

Please, take care.

Brandon Rushing

:(

Brandon, I am so sorry that you lost your Father, I can't imagine what you must be going through right now, keep your head up, my prays will be with you and your family

I'm speechless. i dont wanna even think about that happening to me / my friends / parents... :(

Oh man....that sucks beyond belief! :(

Two fatal FD wrecks in just a few days.....dammit, and you all know that these things come in 3s......

BE CAREFUL, EVERYONE!

Brandon, was your dad knocked out or something? Did the airbags deploy? Why was he unable to get out on his own?

damn, sorry to hear about that.
much sympathy to you and your family.

We're waiting for the autopsy report to see if he was killed on impact of the tree, knocked out by the tree...or totally drowned totally awake. I have NO clue if the air bags deployed, but I doubt they did since the drivers side hit the tree, and the the car went into the water backwards. I was able to get out because I had my window open, however, I have no idea how I got out of the seatbelt. His window was up and he was on the sinking(down) part of the car while it was under water.

Brandon

i am speachless. so sorry to hear the loss. :(

Im so sorry to hear such a sad thing.
My sympathy to your family.

My Gosh! Im so sorry for the loss. I dont really know what to say. :(

Jason

My deepest condolences.:(

My most heartfelt condolences; I lost my father not long ago. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Oh my god.. my deepest condolences...
that is really sad...
Rx7 is very fast and DANGEROUS car... I learned that in hard way. Lets becareful guys..

I'm also speechless... ya never think stuff like that happens except for movies..

Bro, I'm real sorry about your father... and thanks for sharing this to all of us..

I'm so sorry that you lost your father. Hopefully your story will help someone else in the future.

I dont know what to say Brandon. I cant possibly comprehend what you are going through right now, but I am truly very sorry about this :(

With the two recent incidents involving RX-7 owners we all should think twice about opening up our cars on the streets. I think alot of people have the "it cant happen to me" frame of mind, but the truth is that this can happen to anyone of us. Be careful out there and try to keep everything at the track... I know I will be taking it easy when I finally get my car...

Wow :( :( :(

I just spoke with my father, who is dropping a rebuild back in his R1 as I write this. I'm going to send him a link to this thread in the hopes that he's careful when he gets the rex back on the road.

Thanks for sharing with us--I can't imagine what state I would be in if in a similar situation. Your composure and willingness to help others in such a hard time is commendable.

take care,
Rich

sorry about your loss... I don't even want to try and imagine having to go through a tragedy of this nature.

Sorry for your loss. Thank you for posting this for others to see... I know it must be hard to talk about it.

Oh my god. I am so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how horrible you must feel. Please take care everyone and be safe. Scott

Ur openess and ur willingness to share wiv us is greatly appreciated... we all feel ur pain... and we are sorry for what had happened...

I hope this will teach us all... "2 always drive safe..."

this is a terrible tragedy that no one should have to go through. i can not compare the loss of a father, however, i lost control of one of my fd's 2~ years ago, and was going considerably slower.

your message is definately a great one.

there were 3 people killed (2 bystanders) this week here in mississippi because some very young kids were racing down one of the main roads and incidentally hit an suv turning onto the road........

cars are dangerous. everyone keep this in mind, and drive with care and concern.....

louis

Stay strong, i can't even begin to fathom what you're going thrugh. I'm really sorry.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss
 

My Friend I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

My dad was taken from me 2 months ago unexpectedly by natural causes, so I have an idea what you are going through. All I can tell u is be strong and it will get better I was very close to my dad.

Be strong

Dale N

hey im a newbie here , just trying to get help with my ride , i came across this , i cant believe it . im truely sorry . i will def remember this event when im out their thank s for talking about it . again i cant believe it im so sorry..im going to pray for your family...

My prayers are with you and your family. :-(

sorry to hear man..:(

this is my first post here, very sad to hear what happened to u, I m going to pray for you and your family. take care. be strong!!! Cheer u up..

I cannot find words to express my grief for you, such a contrast of emotions you will never experience in one day !

My heart feels empty at the tought of what you must be going through, I too have a very strong bond with my father, he is my best friend, he enjoys being in my car and my hobby (rx7's) as muxh as I do. I could never imagine loosing him doing something we both enjoy so much.

Please accept my condolences, if you ever need to talk or anything at all please do not hesitate to PM me or email.

peter.giljevic@ki-s.com.au

I on behalf of the whole rotary community, here on the forum and everywhere offer my/our sympathy for your loss

Take care Brandon

Regards, Peter :(

that made me really sad.

thanks for sharing

i am truly sorry.


j

I'm sorry for your loss. My depest condolences from a fellow Louisianian.


-ray

I'm gonna pray for you and your family, actually, i'm gonna have my whole school pray for you and your family ( i go to a catholic school). I love my father so much and i am going to tell him that right now, thank you for sharing this with us. I'm very sorry and I hope you're able to stop grieving and celebrate your fathers life soon. My heart hurts to hear about this. I will keep the crazy driving to the track now, once again, thank you.

my deepest condolences for you and your family. plz let us know if we can help in anyway. i really admire your strenght tru this ordeal.

god bless

Sorry to hear it man. I'm sure your story will help the rest of us to keep a level head while driving our FDs.

My sincerest condolensces.

Brandon,
My condolensces go out to you and you family. I lost my father in 1993 to a massive heart attack. I can somewhat understand what you are going through, hang in there, stay strong.
Ron in CT

Condolences and prayers to you, your family, and friends Brandon.:(

My deepest condolences to you and your family.

Brandon,

Reading your story nearly brought me to tears...I can only imagine the depth of emotion you are currently feeling.

I just put my 2 month old son in the passenger seat of my FD today while I was working on it, and I was looking forward to when I can take him out for a ride. I will remember your tragedy years from now when I finally do so. My thoughts and condolences to you and your family.

My prayers are with you.


andy

i cant imagine ur pain. i look at these cars as a curse sometimes, i have heard of too many bad things coming from them it scares me sometimes. i have been thinking a lot lately about wether the heads turning and the speed is really worth all the risks i take. not that it matters but with all the things happening recently i havnt been driving like i used to. turning down races and not showing up on fri sat nights is becoming a lot more common. i think there is a harsh sense of realization that comes from horrible events like these. but in some way, these events may be saving others lives indirectly. its an unimaginable thing your are going through but i hope u realize that by letting others know what happened to you, you may prevent someone else from going through the same thing. im sorry im babbling, ill be sending a few extra prayers out for you and your family, once again im sorry for what you had to go through.

-mike

Last Drive
 

:( That's horrible news.

I am so sorry,this is tragic.

Very sorry to hear what happened :(

Brandon, I am in total shock and I can't even imagine how you might feel but I do know that the Lord is with you always! I'm so very sorry to hear that and I will be praying for you and your family! Please keep your head up and remember the Lord is with you!
~Nicole~

I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who's helping with your replies. Even the replies with just the frown faces are helping me out.

About 2 hours ago we got a call from the coronary. There were NO signs that he was unconscious. His lungs were full of water, just as was his stomach was. He was totally awake when he was drowning.

Another thing is that I never ever touched the seat-belt release, and I REALLY doubt that i just slid through the belts. I'm am going to continue to believe that my dad sacrificed his life for mine by reaching for my belt before his. He was such an amazing guy. Always made everyone laugh and never failed to put a smile on someone's face. He was a well known man around the area, and I know he'll be dearly missed.

Brandon

May he rest in peace.

My condolences Brandon. :(

That's exactly what I'm hoping I can accomplish out of posting this tragedy. One life saved is another life gained.

Brandon

My condolences. What a terrible tragedy...