"I killed a child with my car": Wendy Geal, 22, must always live with the consequences of a tragic accident on a dark country road.(REAL-LIFE READS: THE Cosmo Post)(Personal account)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

I was heading home at about 6 p.m. on January 10, 2006, enjoying the peaceful drive past houses and trees on the rural Arkansas road I'd driven down hundreds of times before, when I hit him.

The boy, whom I later learned was 5 years old, had darted out of the darkness so quickly--he had been playing with a friend--I didn't even have time to react. I slammed on the brakes, ripped off my seat belt, and rushed over to his side before screaming for help.

A woman driving by stopped and called 911 as she attempted to aid the boy. It was unreal, like I was about to wake from a nightmare. I fell to the ground, unable to breathe, in shock. I only remember the black leather jacket of that woman who stopped. She held me until my parents arrived to take me home.

When I woke up the next morning, my mother told me that the boy had died. There weren't words to describe how my heart ached for his family. I didn't want to get out of bed, but I went to work two days later to keep busy.

After a ...