Posted Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 6:00 p.m.
When Stephanie Klock looks at cherished images from the album of her life, it's tough to deal with the reality that she won't be adding any more photos of her mom. Klock says, "She was honestly my best friend...everything I wanted to be, everything I hoped I could be like."
Fighting through tears, Klock says, "She's not going to be at my wedding...she's not going to be there when I have kids. She won't be there for any of my special moments. I just thought, it's too soon."
On the night of March 9th, 2010, her mother, 51-year-old Kathy Sejut-Endsley was driving home from work when she made a fatal mistake on Highway 51, in front of the Pine Cone Truck Stop. "She had gotten a text message from someone..looked down to see the text message, and didn't see that a semi truck had pulled out across the lanes of highway 51. So, her car went straight under the truck, she didn't hit the brakes. She was killed instantly, thank God. It was a tough situation."
Just days before, her Mom had helped pick out Stephanie's wedding gown....they had a special dinner together. "We had a really good time...it was a really good memory to finish out on, but if you would have known, you would have given an extra hug, spent a few extra
minutes. But you never know...you never know what's going to happen."
Like Kathy, more than 16-thousand Americans over a recent 6 year period lost their lives while texting and driving. One study shows texting while driving increases your risk of crashing more than 23 times over unimpaired driving. The same study also shows that just before a crash, a driver spends about five seconds looking down at their phone, instead of the road. If you're driving at highway speed, you'll travel more than the length of a football field in those five seconds.
Stephanie understands as both a firefighter/EMT with the DeForest Area Fire Department, and now as a grieving daughter, how dangerous distracted driving can be. "They don't stop to think twice that driving needs your attention more than that text message. There's nothing to know off of that phone that can't wait ten minutes until you get to your destination. "
Speaking to high school seniors gathered at the DeForest Area High School's Mock Crash just a couple of months after her mother's death, Stephanie cried, while saying, "She was my rock. Nothing can ever replace the relationship we had. All I can do is hope you will think twice the next time your phone beeps while driving."
Klock hopes her loss will help students gain an understanding of the dangers of texting and driving. "Just to hear a couple of people say I'm not going to do that anymore means she didn't die in vain. I've had some complete strangers come up to me and give me a hug. It means a lot to me to have high school students come up to me and say things like that, because I think that's one of the hardest groups to reach."
As she looks again through the photos of her together with her mom, Stephanie says the toughest part is, "Knowing that I won't get any more...knowing that what I have is what I have. So it's wonderful to have the pictures, but it's hard to know that I won't have any more to add to my album."
