IN YOUR OWN WORDS - DANIEL'S STORY

The day was February 7th 2006 just like any other day in the city of White House, TN. I was lying on our love seat watching Rollbounce a movie Daniel had gotten for Christmas that I hadn't had a chance to watch yet. His father and I had stayed home from work we were both sick. His father had fallen asleep on the couch. The bus pulled up to drop Daniel and his 6 yr old brother, Dawson, off at home at 2:45 p.m. Daniel and Dawson came in as usual and ate a snack, they had cookies and milk.

Daniel wanted to go see which of his friends in the neighborhood was at home to play with and Dawson went to the bedroom to play play- station after he informed me he had no homework and we discussed his work for the day. Daniel was gone for around 15 mins then came back saying no one was home yet. So he was going to get Dawson and his new BB gun I had bought him for Christmas and play out side for a while. Around 30 mins later they came in saying it was getting cold. It was around 4:30 at this time. I was continuing my movie they had just got to the part where the kids were going to the skate off.

Dawson came up to me and said he was scared. I asked why. He told me Daniel was playing dead. I started yelling for Daniel to stop scaring his brother. When he didn't answer I got up to walk in there and make him stop. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined what he was doing.

I turned the corner of the hall and saw him hanging from his bed with his head in a Boy Scout necktie. His lips were blue and his face so pale. I started screaming for his father while I was getting him down. He was so limp and heavy that it was hard for me to lift him up enough to get him out of the tie. I was screaming at him to wake up and yelling at God for this not to be happening to me, not like this. I made his older brother who had come out of his room to get Dawson out of the house immediately. He was crying and yelling. His father and I had moved Daniel to the living room floor to start the CPR. His father immediately started CPR.

David was yelling at him to wake up and please stop playing with him like this… that it wasn't funny. I was yelling, the boys were crying. David B. was just sitting on the couch rocking with his brother's picture off the wall. I went outside with Dawson who was on the front porch waiting on the emergency workers to come around corner. I went back in after I heard the sirens to let them know they were almost there. At that time I seen that Daniel had been getting sick when his father was doing CPR on him and I knew it was not looking good. The air was going straight to his stomach. I went back out the door to sit with Dawson and started the long list of phone calls. I called his mother who was getting off work and coming to pick up Dawson for the night. I don't know how she understood me I was in no shape to tell anyone that their middle son was already dead. She went straight to Skyline Medical to wait on him. The medical workers were already there running up into the house. I knew one who was Dawson's baseball coach. We let them work on Daniel then and all just sat and held each other. I got towels for them to clean up because he had gotten sick on his father. I got him a sheet so they could put it on him and use it to lift him out to the stretcher.

Dawson was speaking with officers when I went back out with him a blanket to stay warm. He was telling them that Daniel had asked him if he wanted to play a choking game. Dawson told them that he said no that he didn't want to play and he told them Daniel told him he did. Dawson had at that time turned around and was playing playstation when his brother put his head in the scarf that was tied to his bed over a year ago. We have no clue what exactly happened then but I think he lost consciousness and slipped off the side of the bed which hung him. I have never seen the report from the medical examinators office but believe that his windpipe was broken from the weight of his body which would explained the air going to his stomach.

This was the worst day and moments of my life. Dawson went next door with our neighbors children while I waited on my mother and stepfather to get from KY to pick me up and take me to hospital because I just couldn't drive. His father followed the ambulance there and his mother was waiting on him. I stayed home to wait on my parents to take me to the hospital and tried to clean the spots in our living room floor where Daniel had spit up the blood on the carpet. My parents arrived and we immediately took off. On the way I called and was told that Daniel didn't make it. I broke down and hyperventilated in my parent's car. I was devastated.

Daniel was my pride and joy. Daniel and I had gone thru everything together… cub scouts, basketball, baseball and football. I was always taking him somewhere and he always went with me shopping. We were always working in my garden together. He had given me sunflower seeds for mother's day and we planted them together every year. I miss Daniel so much every day. I never knew how much he meant to me or how much he helped me cooking and cleaning the kitchen. He always had my dishwasher unloaded and the dishes that was dirty from the morning in when I got home.

We are trying to get on with our lives but they are not the same as they used to be. The boys are split in years now David's 15 and Dawson's 6 so they are so far between it's hard on them both with out Daniel to keep them playing all together. Dawson has decided to join Cub Scouts like Daniel and he promised to never ever try what Daniel did. David is still playing football and doing well in school but has moments that he wishes him and his brother had not had the fight they had before the accident. David never got to tell him he was sorry.

Never ever take a day for granted or go to bed angry with a loved one or not tell them you love them. You never know when you will not be able to say you are sorry or you love them with all your heart. I always tell the boys goodnight and I love them. I always wake up and check on them in the middle of the night. I may not be their biological mother but I will never forgive myself for not keeping a better eye on Kristy's child. I feel it's my responsibility to make sure her children are safe. I will always love them like I am their mother and she knows that. I would never hurt her children.

I hope this message helps you understand your children are precious in every way and you never know what God has planned for them. Tell them you love them and hug them every day. No matter what!

Dianna Sheppard
Step-Mother of Daniel Caleb Sheppard