Mum's 'nagging' text message about baby's car seat saved his life in car accident

A mum ended up counting her lucky stars after she sent a 'nagging' text message which ended up saving her baby's life.

Back in 2018, new mum Rebecca Tarafo Boyer was heading back to work for the first time after maternity leave and told her husband David that she wanted 'hourly updates and recaps'.

He had their three-month-old son William with them and it was the baby's first day away from his mother since being born, so she wanted to make sure she knew what was happening.

The couple sent text after text to each other so Rebecca always knew what was going on, and crucially David sent her a picture of their son in his car seat before they went out shopping.

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She said this triggered her 'nagging wife reply' because he'd set the seat slightly wrong and told him he needed to change it before setting off - and it's a very good thing she did.

Rebecca wrote on Facebook that she was sure her husband 'laughed at me and rolled his eyes' before setting the car seat how she'd told him to.

She'd told him that the chest clip on the car seat wasn't 'nearly high enough or tight enough', telling her husband to make sure their son was strapped into his seat tightly before driving.

About 15 minutes later, she got a call from her husband telling her the car was wrecked after another driver had pulled into traffic without giving other motorists enough time to stop.

David had told her how he'd been going at 50mph when he slammed on the brakes but could not stop his car in time to avoid hitting the other driver's passenger side door.

What could have been a disaster ended up being a good lesson in why car seats are so important as apparently the three-month-old baby 'only received a minor jolt' and didn't even wake up from his nap.

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The same couldn't be said for her husband (don't worry, he didn't die) after he ended up in the hospital with his foot broken in three places.

Rebecca told Today it was proof that car seats save lives and is certain that had her baby not been properly secured then her family could have been facing a terrible tragedy.

She credited her 'annoying nagging' for ensuring her son's safety, and after the car seat manufacturer offered her a replacement free of charge (they can't be used again after a crash), she said her insurance had already covered it.

She instead that they donate a seat to a non-profit organisation that helped children with chronic illness.

Topics: Life, Parenting, Health

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker