Woman recalls moments before her teenager died in Merriam accident

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Paula Baird, 25, was seriously injured in a crash on I-35 just before 2 a.m. Saturday.

After the accident, her car remained on the highway.

17-year-old Ben VanBuskirk, a rising senior at Olathe South High School, wwhen he rushed to her aid when he tragically died.

“Honestly, every time I think about it, I’m at a loss for words. I’m just at a loss for words,” Baird said. “I’m grateful to be here, but I’m also very, very sad that he had to die.”

Baird remembers screaming for help after the first accident, in which her car broke down on I-35 near the Johnson Drive exit in Merriam.

“I couldn’t see anything. All the airbags were deployed, so I reached down, pulled down my deployed airbag and looked out the window. I saw Ben’s other friend there and I yelled at him to help me,” Baird explained. “And he just looked up and said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, help is on the way.'”

Not long after the first accident, Baird’s car was hit from behind by another driver.

She was taken to a hospital for treatment. Baird said hours later she learned that 17-year-old Ben VanBuskirk had died while trying to help her.

“He really fought like a trooper, and it’s hard to say,” Baird said. “After the first crash, my lights were completely off and I was in the fast lane. Nobody could see me, so I think they must have seen Ben running to help me and maybe swerved or maybe slowed down. My sincere condolences go out to his family.”

She was seriously injured and has a long road to recovery ahead of her. The 25-year-old mother of one is grateful to have survived.

“I think if they hadn’t stopped, the second hit would have knocked me out – it would have knocked me out completely,” Baird said. “So Ben, you have to know that you saved my life for a reason, definitely.”