Grief and recovery: Family hanging on after fatal '06 crash

By Amber Allen

Amberlyn Gulick, left, was killed in the October 2006 crash on Ga. Hwy. 115, while her brother, B.J. Till, is on a long road to recovery. (Submitted photo)

On a warm late October afternoon, a White County family was on the receiving end of both a tragedy and a miracle: suffering the death of a child but rejoicing over the survival of another one. It all happened in a blink of an eye after a driver ran into the back of their car on Hwy. 115, trapping the two children in the back seat. Now, all that's left of the evidence of the crash are crosses erected for 4-year-old Amberlyn Lou Gulick and spray paint marks left by the Georgia State Patrol's ongoing investigation into the crash.

Since Oct. 25, Richard Gulick and Miranda Till have gone through many obstacles, such as losing an infant daughter and their health insurance earlier this year. But one thing they take comfort in is that their 14-year-old son, Brian “B.J.” Till Jr., survived the accident with his cheerful and determined spirit intact despite the head trauma he suffered.

“He's still the same B.J.,” Gulick said of his stepson, who was a ninth-grader at Ninth Grade Academy at the time of the wreck. “The doctors had us so worried that it wasn't just going to be physical, but also mental. But he's still the same kid upstairs as he was before.”

During these difficult times, the Tesnatee Gap Valley Road family said they turn to themselves and B.J. for support. They're also quick to say that they're trying to make it on their own.

“We don't want to take from others,” Till said. “We would take funds away from someone else. We're waiting to see how we end up.”

The accident

At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, Till was at the helm of the family's 1989 Honda Accord on Hwy. 115 East, taking Gulick, her partner of 11 years, and her children, Amberlyn and B.J., to the Cornelia Wal-Mart. B.J. had just turned 14 on Oct. 21 and Amberlyn had a birthday coming up Nov. 28, so the parents were going to shop for presents for the kids. As Till passed Pless Road, she saw two cars stopped for Department of Transportation road work and slowed to a halt.

According to a Georgia State Patrol accident report, Cleveland resident Brandon Lo, 18, was behind the family when he ran into them with the 1997 Chevrolet S-10 truck he was driving. Charges are pending in the accident. Efforts to contact Lo for this story were unsuccessful as of press time.

In the chaos that followed, the family and paramedics credit two first-responders with saving B.J.'s life and trying their best with Amberlyn.

When White County sheriff's Deputy Aaron Autry first arrived, he found Amberlyn still in her car seat and B.J. buckled in his seat belt. State Trooper William Lovell drove up shortly thereafter, and the two went to work on the children.

“I went to the little boy first since that was the side I was on,” Autry said. “He was a having a hard time breathing so (Lovell and I) cut his seat belt. Then I ran over to the little girl.”

To do that, Autry had to run the length of three cars and back since the cars had piled up in the accident. He also was trying to get a hold of traffic in the road, which was made easier when a logging truck stopped in the opposite lane. Autry told the truck driver to stay put.

The deputy said he realized the severity of the children's injuries and immediately called for two emergency helicopters.

At the same time, Lovell said he repositioned B.J.'s body and held onto his neck and mouth to allow him to breathe. Capt. Anita Allison, a paramedic with White County EMS who worked on the teen that day, said when Lovell did that, he improved B.J.'s chances of surviving.

“(Lovell) was very cool and collected,” Allison said. “Since then we've talked about how well he did.”

While Lovell was monitoring B.J., he reached over to search for a pulse on Amberlyn. He couldn't find one.

“I told the father to keep it together and hold her like he was,” Lovell said.

Allison, along with EMS director Bill Scandrett and paramedic Frances Garrison, soon arrived on the scene and took over. Lovell said they were able to take Amberlyn out of the crumpled Honda through a window, and the White County Fire Department and its Jaws of Life helped extract B.J. “And then I went back to doing my job, which was investigating the accident,” the trooper said.

Both children were taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite by the two helicopters, and Till, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center. B.J. remained in a coma for three weeks before they were able to wake him. Unfortunately, Amberlyn was pronounced dead the day after the accident from her brain injuries, even though EMS workers had been able to regain a faint pulse on the girl through CPR.

Those at the scene said they wished they could've done more for the little girl.

“It's tough for everybody (when children are involved),” Scandrett said. “It hits a little closer to home because they haven't lived their life yet.”

Allison said as a mother she has to “get out of mom mode” in these situations.

“We're not moms on the scene,” she said. “You get out there and do your job, and you fall apart later. When everything is said and done and they're airlifted out, you're kind of left with your thoughts.”

The recovery process

The first thing B.J. said he remembers is laying on a large inflatable ball at the hospital, which Gulick said was used to help improve his circulation. His stepson doesn't remember anything from the time of the accident and through the month of December and has hazy memories of events that occurred two years ago. The teenager has had some other major firsts since then: The first word he spoke, which was “three” because he was counting the bars on his bed; the first time he was able to eat and drink without a feeding tube; and also the first time he was able to stand unassisted for a few moments.

For B.J., there are many more firsts he will need to experience.

Eight months since the car accident, B.J. is in a wheelchair with use in only his left arm. But his parents are his supporters, cheering him every step of the way.

“When he came home (in January) for the first time and he had a feeding tube,” Gulick said. “We felt bad eating in front of him. We got him back to the hospital (in March), and I told the doctors, ‘He wants to eat; he wants the tube out'.”

Till said they worked with B.J. until he was able to hold water down. “He was very determined and in good spirits,” she said.

B.J. worked with doctors and therapists with the hospital's Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (CIRU) to start his recovery process to where he could rebuild life skills. Till said B.J. was especially excited to work with music therapist Beth Collier since he was a trombone player at Ninth Grade Academy's band.

Collier said she helped him regain his ability to speak and move his muscles by using his music interest. She bought a trombone mouthpiece so he could pucker up his mouth to make sounds, and she also had him slide his left arm out and in as if he was playing the large instrument.

“He very proudly wore his White County band T-shirt,” Collier said. “That was really important to him, to honor that part of his identity.”

As he improved during his two stints at the hospital, he worked with Collier on compiling a list of songs to honor his sister and also talked and played instruments with other children in his music group.

“He has a great sense of humor, and I think that's what helped him so much,” she said. “He's a motivated kid. And he's really appropriately concerned about, ‘How am I going to get my life back?'”

Jennifer Baker, a physical therapist at the hospital, said she worked with B.J. to try and make him as independent as possible, all while he was cracking jokes here and there. They worked on bed mobility, such as being able to roll over and pull himself up, and sitting balance. She said they were trying to build up his muscles so he can hopefully begin to walk again.

“He wanted to get up and move and didn't want anyone to take care of him,” Baker said. “B.J. was one of those patients that really stick with you when they're gone.”

His parents say that there are things that are different about him, even though Till said “he still has his attitude.”

“He excelled in math before the accident, but now he has a bit of trouble,” his mother said. “Now he excels in English.”

Michael Pickett, White County High School's band director, said he and his students are wishing B.J. a swift recovery.

“We're excited to hear of his progress,” Pickett said. “He was becoming a very talented trombone player. It was really clicking with him.”

B.J. was so good that he was able to march with the high schoolers last year because he was his section's first chair.

And the teen isn't far from the thoughts of those at Children's Healthcare. Gulick said B.J. still receives letters from the children still hospitalized, and Scottish Rite recently sent him a leg brace with Georgia Bulldogs on it. B.J. wants to go to the University of Georgia and either be a cartoonist or a police officer, his stepfather said.

Hurdles to overcome

Despite B.J.'s and his parents' best attempts to improve his mobility, there is a big obstacle standing in their way: the tens of thousands of dollars of debt Till and Gulick face if they're unable to re-enroll with Georgia's PeachCare program.

Gulick said they lost their PeachCare coverage in April after Till called to complain that the company was still sending notices on Amberlyn as if she were still alive. Till asked them to stop because they were reminding them of their loss. A few days later, a PeachCare representative informed them they were behind in their payment. Gulick and Till were unable to pay the $12.50 they owed right away, and so they had to remove B.J. early from Scottish Rite's rehabilitation program at the end of the month.

PeachCare, which is a health-insurance program for children of low-income families, has frozen enrollment because of a funding shortfall, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Congress passed a bill in May to give Georgia $114 million to finance the program, but state officials said it was no guarantee that PeachCare would see another funding shortfall in the future. According to the AJC article, about 280,000 Georgia children are enrolled in PeachCare, and many health officials said there are many who are frozen out. Congress is expected to begin work soon on a new finance plan for the health-insurance system.

Gulick said they are currently appealing the decision.

Meanwhile, Till and B.J. receive too much money from survivor's benefits they get from a California boating accident that killed Till's former husband and B.J.'s father, Brian Till, to be eligible for Medicaid. And Till was to have met with someone in Gainesville to apply for disability payments, but she got lost on the way to the new location and missed the appointment. They're not eligible for another appointment for another few weeks.

“I feel so bad for B.J.,” said a frustrated Gulick. “The state of Georgia is more worried about money for health care than they are about the children in Georgia. This poor kid, he's going through so much right now. He had no involvement in the accident. It just seems like no one cares. I know the community and the people care, but the state government and the federal government doesn't care. It seems like we've forgotten our children.”

Missing

their daughters

Last week, Gulick, Till and B.J. went to B.C. Grant Baptist Church Cemetery in Alto to see the gravestone that was just erected for Amberlyn. They said they don't know when they'll be able to afford a gravestone for the newborn they lost Jan. 20. Till said the stress that came after the accident effected her pregnancy and forced her into early labor about five months into her pregnancy.

“The baby was at the borderline point as to whether it would survive,” Gulick said of his daughter, Kaitlyn May, who died at North Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

Till said she suffered two placental abruptions, which is a condition where the placenta almost or entirely peels away from the uterine wall before delivery, which can cause a loss of oxygen for the baby.

“She lived for 30 minutes,” Till said. “She was a fighter.”

As for Amberlyn, Till and Gulick said they are blessed to have had their little girl for as long as they did. Gulick said she was his “sunshine princess.”

“It's so hard to have her for four-and-a-half years and then have her gone,” he said.

The family's neighbor, Jody McCarthy, said her 8-year-old daughter Lindsea and Amberlyn loved to play together.

“Amberlyn was precious and really playful,” McCarthy said. “She made herself comfortable in our home.”

Lindsea, who will be a third-grader at White County Intermediate School this fall, said they used to jump on their trampoline together, and also swim and play Game Cube video games. Now, Lindsea is using flash cards to work with B.J.

McCarthy said she feels as if Gulick, Till and B.J. are like family, and she has noticed that their pain has affected them.

“They don't come over like they used to, but I can understand why,” she said.”They want to let it out, but they're holding it back.”

Moving on with life

Till and Gulick said taking care of B.J. requires 24-hour care, which forces them to stay home. But they're not alone: The parents say they've received help in many forms since the accident. Gulick said Till's mother gave them a van to help transport B.J., and they are appreciative for all that McCarthy has done to help. He said they are also thankful for Kevin and Amanda Wade of Habersham County, who built them a handicapped ramp to their home; Ed Carr, for rebuilding their bathroom; Roy Carr, for taking Gulick to Scottish Rite the day of the accident; and Tim Carr, an Iraq War veteran who drove from his Army base in southern Georgia the night of the accident to Atlanta and took Gulick to Cleveland and back so he could look in on the family's dogs.

“I just wish I could name everybody,” Gulick said. “Every time I sit down with my wife, we think of someone else. We haven't forgotten them.”

The family will soon be getting help with a fun-filled day at the Georgia Aquarium, which will be sponsored by White County EMS, Children's Healthcare and Atlanta's 11-Alive News. Jason Rollins, a spokesman for Children's Healthcare, said he approached EMS to see if Scandrett, Allison and Garrison - the three that initially worked on Amberlyn and B.J. - to see if they'd be willing to participate.

Scandrett said they jumped at the opportunity because it was a chance to see a positive outcome for someone who nearly lost their life.

“We're really excited about that,” Allison said. “Most times you work on them and follow up with hospital personnel and the flight crew about their progress, but a lot of times you don't get to see the people again.”

As the days go by, Gulick said the healing process from the accident continues. He and Till don't travel Hwy. 115 East anymore; they don't even go to Habersham County because of the memories it evokes. Gulick said that some days they're angry at what happened, and some days they're not.

“We go through all these emotions every day,” Gulick said. “But we look at B.J., and he's what we got and we concentrate on him.”