Hizey vs. Feld Motor Sports

No parent should die before their child.  It’s not the natural order of things.  It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.  Worse, no parent should witness the death of their child in the blink of an eye.  For the Hizey family, everyone’s worst nightmare lived out in real time.

Like most 8-year-olds, Sebastian wanted to see the Monster Trucks.  They’re loud, exhilarating, super cool, right?  So, Sebastian along with his mom, dad, brother and two sisters all drove as a family to the Tacoma Dome to see Monster Jam featuring Grave Digger, among other headliner monster trucks.  

As one of the monster trucks accelerated into a maneuver, a drive line ring suddenly spun free from the underside of the truck and, like a lethal metal Frisbee, shot into the stands, slamming into Sebastian’s head.  In spite of heroic efforts by first responders to save him, he died on a metal bench as his parents and siblings watched.

Immediately after the event, the show’s organizers apologized for the horrific tragedy, adding that “Nothing like this has ever happened.”  Because of the courage of an anonymous citizen who’d also taken his kids to a Monster Jam event in another city, we confirmed that the show’s organizers had lied.  The year before, a drive line ring shot into the stands, narrowly missing the man’s head and slammed into the concrete wall behind him.  He picked up the truck piece and after the show had Grave Digger’s driver autograph the part that nearly took his life.