A healing spirit watches over Central
Published on October 5th, 2005
Enduring weeks upon weeks of hospitalization and rehabilitation in a Boston hospital last year after undergoing a leg amputation above the knee, five-year-old David Eustace rejoined his classmates at the Central Elementary School last spring in a wheelchair.
Paul Eustace, the father of the current 1st grade student, recalls the stinging hurt that led up to that return well. During the worst of days, the Stoneham parent lamented at the idea that his son - who was one of two children critically injured during last October's horrific Central School crash - would never be the same again.
But this fall, that nightmarish scenario which regularly haunted him and his family dissipated before their very eyes.
"He went back to school last year in a wheelchair. But he walked back into school this fall," recalls Eustace, his voice charged with excitement. "He's the same little boy he was a year ago. It's amazing."
"We tell him now, you're all better. And he accepts that," the father of two added, explaining that his son now walks on an above the knee prosthesis. "[His injury] isn't going to stop him from anything. Once David puts his leg on in the morning, it's almost as if nothing happened."
One year ago last Saturday, 66-year-old Green Street resident Enrico Caruso plowed through a crowd of children and parents gathered at the front of the Central School after dismissal time.
Injuring at least 12 people in the crash, the grandfather's errant vehicle slammed right into a concrete wall where then five-year-old David Eustace, six-year-old Jonathan Schores, and Schores' mother Linda sat, resulting in critical injuries to each of the three victim's legs.
Caruso, who was charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle following the accident, was sentenced last June to one-year of home confinement after a Woburn District Court jury found him guilty after just over an hour's worth of deliberations.
In remembrance of that tragic day and last Saturday's anniversary, The Stoneham Independent spoke to those directly involved in the crash and its aftermath. The Schores family, who have requested their privacy be respected since the accident occurred, declined to comment for the story.
However, according to School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly, Jonathan has also rejoined his fellow classmates since the accident and is doing well.
"The good news is that both children that were seriously injured are back in school. They're still receiving some assistance for their injuries," said Connelly.
Reflecting on the aftermath of the crash during an interview earlier this week, Connelly believed that despite the dark nature of the event itself, Stoneham rose to occasion.
"The think the School system and the community has tried to assist the families in any and every way humanly possible. And I'm very proud of that," Connelly remarked.
"This certainly brought the community together and I think that culminated in the fundraising social that was held at the Montvale Plaza last November," said Connelly. "So it really has galvanized the community, and I also think it's helped all of us to appreciate what we have in life."
According to Eustace, he couldn't agree more with Connelly's assessment of the town's response.
And combined with the incredible progress of his son, who can now run and play baseball, his family has been able to move on with their lives because of that support.
"It was amazing, not just after the accident, but still now. From the teachers, to the principals, to the mothers of his classmates, and his friends, everyone has been great. People have said to us, 'how could you go back to the Central School?' But we wouldn't go anywhere else," Eustace explained.
As part of the process with moving on, Eustace says he and his wife no longer wait for the day that Caruso will offer an apology for the accident and its impact on their family.
But despite Eustace's insistence that he no longer desires an apology from the 66-year-old Green Street resident responsible for the October crash, Caruso, who briefly spoke for the first time about the accident outside of a courtroom, offered one anyway.
"I'm just so sorry about the whole situation. It was a tragic situation, one that should have never happened," said Caruso in a phone-interview from his home on Tuesday night. "I'm sorry to all the people who were hurt and all the people who were involved."
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