Woman tells heartbreaking story of distracted driving

CELINA - A Fort Loramie woman was left a widow and the single mother of four children after a crash caused by a distracted driver claimed the life of her husband.

Leah Fullenkamp on Tuesday recounted to Celina Rotarians the tragic events of June 16, 2018, that took from her and her children John Anthony Fullenkamp, a proud farmer, an accomplished electrical engineer and a devoted family man who had a soft spot for the Christmas season.

Her account, in a manner more convincing than any public-service announcement, impressed upon Rotarians the potentially deadly consequences of using cellphones and other devices while driving.

"Your brain cannot focus on two things at once. Driving's tricky because you don't know what's going to happen. You don't know when that kid's going to run out … you don't know when a tractor's going to suddenly be in front of you," she said.

On June 15, 2018, Fullenkamp, a teacher, underwent a medical procedure to address problems with her foot.

"The very next day I was home, literally sitting on my couch, my foot propped," she said. "(My husband) had a trip coming up in a couple of weeks, so he needed to get his spraying in so he went to my dad's house, the farm that we had just purchased, and was going to be spraying."

According to a sheriff's report, a woman was driving northbound in the 11000 block of State Route 29 in Shelby County when her vehicle struck the rear of a tractor pulling a sprayer. John Fullenkamp was operating the tractor and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Leah Fullenkamp showed a video re-enactment of the crash to Rotarians

"So she didn't stop. She doesn't see him. She's shopping online. She's coming from the Piqua Mall," Fullenkamp said. "She had at least 16 seconds, from the time he pulled out of the driveway until he was hit, to see him."

Her mother-in-law had taken the children with her that afternoon to take supper to John Fullenkamp and buy a birthday present for their cousins. Leah Fullenkamp was at home when the crash occurred around 4 p.m. but would not officially learn of her husband's death until hours later.

"Now I'm still at home sitting on my couch and my foot hurt. So I am looking on Facebook," she said.

She was reading a post on Facebook that said, "there's a really bad accident on 29. The farmer didn't make it. This family could probably use prayers,"

"So I'm sitting there, like, 'OK, it's either John or my grandpa
or my uncle, maybe a neighbor
but they have no reason to go that way. On that stretch we're the only farmers,' " she said, adding she made several phone calls to no avail trying to learn the details.

Not until 7 p.m. did she find out from her mother-in-law that her husband was indeed involved in the accident.

Leah Fullenkamp went on to show pictures of family before and after the crash, including one of the children huddled around their father's headstone at the cemetery, and share harrowing details about how the loss of her spouse has adversely affected her and her children.

"This is always going to be a part of their story, forever and ever and ever. It's not going to go away," she said.

She reiterated the importance of focused driving, free of any distraction.

"When you're picking up your phone, you're literally saying that whatever it is that I'm doing (with the phone) is more important than my life, it's more important than my passenger's life and it's more important than every single other person that I could possibly pass on the road," she said.

And it's not just teenagers who may be likely to drive distractedly, she said. In fact, the woman who caused the crash involving her husband was 55 years old at the time, she said.

"She wasn't a teenager," she said. "So it can happen to you. Don't think that because you've been driving for 40 years that you're exempt."

She also pointed out that pending state legislation would make distracted driving a primary offense. According to The Associated Press, distracted driving - including texting, making calls or surfing the internet while driving - is considered a secondary offense for drivers over 18, meaning police must have another reason to pull someone over.

Fullenkamp had shared her story and message with teenagers at numerous schools, but her presentation on Tuesday marked the first time she had given the talk to adults, she noted.

For more information about the family's story, visit the Facebook page "intheblinkofafly." The name is a reference to a special fly that has visited the family on birthdays, holidays, fun days and hard days, she said.

"Always random, the fly has grown to be a special reminder of their dad," she said.