Florida mom and two children die after hitting an alligator with their car
Amber Stanley, a mother of two children has passed away with them in a car accident. The three were on their way back home when the tragic incident occurred.
The only family member who didn’t die on May 7, 2018, was the father of the children, Josh Stanley. Josh is struggling to deal with the sudden loss according to the report by WJAX-TV.
Amber, 24, and her two young children, Autumn, 2, and Jack, 4, died after their car struck an alligator on Interstate 95. Their car slammed into a tree and burst into flames.
She was driving her children home to Florida from a weekend in South Carolina's Myrtle Beach. That’s when she hit a 9-foot gator in the middle of the busy expressway that runs up and down the East Coast.
Amber Stanley’s husband shared these photos of his wife & children who were killed in a crash in South Carolina.
— Russell Colburn (@RColburnnews) May 8, 2018
Autumn was only 2 years old, & Jack was just 4. So tragic.
Troopers say they hit a 9-foot gator on I-95 North & lost control. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/0LaCBIVz8E
The force caused her to lose control of her vehicle and she slammed into a tree. That’s when the car erupted in flames and killed all three.
"She was the love of my life. We would've been together coming up on 10 years."
Josh Stanley, WJAX-TV, May 9, 2018
It’s estimated that the collision occurred at about 12:49 a.m. on Monday in South Carolina. Josh has now been left on his own to carry on living without his wife and children.
TRAGIC.#Callahan mother and two children- just 2 and 4 years old- killed in fiery crash in #SouthCarolina. Troopers there say Amber Stanley, 24, struck a 9-foot gator on I-95 and her car ended up in the trees early Monday morning.@ActionNewsJax is live at noon.
— Russell Colburn (@RColburnnews) May 8, 2018
He and his wife were high school sweethearts. Josh wasn’t with his family during the incident because he couldn’t travel due to a work training course in Georgia that he had to attend.
Josh Stanley says his family was headed to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway while he was out of town for work. He’s now his family’s sole survivor. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/nmtAWbdfFF
— Russell Colburn (@RColburnnews) May 8, 2018
"When I landed in Atlanta, I couldn't get a hold of her," he said. "The last thing I said was, 'I love you and I'll talk to you later.'”
Josh: “I’ll hear some kid say ‘dad’ or something, and I’ll turn around and it’s not Jack or Autumn, but for a split second it’s just like, sort of like my brain expects them to be there...It has just been really hard.”
— Russell Colburn (@RColburnnews) May 8, 2018
STORY: https://t.co/fHnhMjuiWd @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/OxydtoVs3j
He shared that the last he had spoken to his children was when he left. Josh recalled hugging them and telling them that he loved them and they would see each other in a week.
He also told them that they would be missed. In a heartfelt confession, the widower revealed that sometimes he would hear children saying something about ‘dad’ and he would turn around.
Josh: "I’ll be walking around, and I’ll just like see somebody out of the corner of my eye, like, 'Oh that’s Amber,' but I know it’s not. That’s just the first thing my brain goes to."
— Russell Colburn (@RColburnnews) May 8, 2018
Heartbreaking. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/AJJGr9AtNr
His brain would expect it to be either one of his children even though he knew they had passed on. He admitted that the whole ordeal was very hard for him.
