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Son Has Unexpected Response to the Driver Who Killed His Wheelchair-Bound Father as He Crossed the Street
The father's wheelchair after hit by a care and killed on the scene. (Image source: Forest Grove Police Department via KPTV-TV)

Son Has Unexpected Response to the Driver Who Killed His Wheelchair-Bound Father as He Crossed the Street

"...I'm sure the driver is finding this just as hard to deal with as I am."

Two years ago, an Oregon father and son reunited after arguments had kept them apart. Now the son, John Colin Hacker, is left mourning the short time he had to rebuild his relationship with his father, who was killed while crossing the street Monday.

While he might blame himself for the time he spent feuding with his dad, Hacker told The Oregonian that he doesn't blame the man who killed him.

In his wheelchair, John David Hacker was crossing a street in Forest Grove, Ore., when he was struck by a car and killed.

man in wheelchair killed The father's wheelchair after hit by a care and killed on the scene. (Image source: Forest Grove Police Department via KPTV-TV)

A car had stopped to let the 55-year-old cross the street in an area not marked as a crosswalk. John David Hacker wore dark clothing, and at 6 a.m. the lighting was low. An SUV coming the other direction did not see the father crossing until it was too late.

"It was an accident," the 29-year-old son of the victim said, according to The Oregonian. "I know it wasn't intentional and I'm sure the driver is finding this just as hard to deal with as I am."

Watch KPTV-TV's report about the accident:

The father was in the process of rebuilding his own life at a local rehabilitation center, recovering from knee injuries and from a 2005 head injury that lead to various issues, including vertigo, audio sensitivity and weight gain. John Colin Hacker said his father was making plans to go back to school.

"I feel like this robbed us of experiencing what he wanted to do when he was released," John Colin Hacker told the local newspaper. "I'm going to miss his presence, and I wish my daughter could grow up with him around."

Police did not find the driver of the SUV, 68-year-old Donald Watts, to be under the influence any substance at the time, but told KGW-TV that speed might have been a factor in the accident.

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