OAKDALE, Minn. - In Oakdale, there is a constant reminder on the corner of Upper 19th St. and Helmo Ave. It's a reminder of a life taken too soon on August 13, 2013.
"He went out on his scooter and maybe within five minutes I heard a noise and I had a sick feeling and I didn't want to look out my bedroom window," Peggy Riggs said Wednesday night recalling the horrific scene last year when her son, David, was killed in front of their home.
Peggy's youngest son David, ten days before he would begin his junior year of college, never even saw it coming. The 18-year-old driver slammed into him when David was turning into his own driveway.
"He just kept saying he was sorry, it was an accident he wasn't paying attention and what we found out later he was texting, he was on his phone," Peggy said.
That five second mistake over a year later doesn't let up on a mother.
"Well tomorrow is his birthday, they are all pretty hard," Peggy said. David Riggs would have been 22-years-old on Thursday.
But as hard as every day is Peggy wanted to talk about it the crash during this most hectic time of year to beg all of you to put the phone down the minute you get into the driver's seat.
"Please think about someone else, literally, five seconds can change the whole world for somebody," she said.
David himself, ironically, was steadfast on no phones behind the wheel.
"Very adamant. If I was driving I was not allowed to answer my phone or text, he would have to have it or vice versa if he was driving," David's girlfriend Ciara Falzone said.
David Riggs was a young man who loved Christmas, ever since he was a brown eyed little boy. On this holiday again, he is so missed, gone from this world because of a text.
"I miss his voice, his laughter, the room lit up when David walked into it," his mother said.
Don't make another mother remember this way again. Put the phone down, and drive.
This Saturday, Dec. 20th, David's family will hold the second annual Run for David 5k at Como Park to raise money for Relay for Life and to fight MS.
Here is a link for more information: www.Gofund.me/dashfordavid
