KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A metro mother is grieving after losing her son in a crash along Independence Avenue earlier this month. She says it was a mistake that took a deadly turn.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” Myra Patton said, “the pain that you feel.”
Patton found out through social media that her son had died in a car crash.
“At first, I was so upset that they sent it, but since then I’ve found comfort in seeing his last moments,” she said.
Christopher Patton, 26, lost control of his car along Independence Avenue just before Wilson Avenue, hitting multiple concrete pillars. Police said he was seen driving erratically and at a high rate of speed.
“Pushing on the gas,” Patton said, “led to 110 mph and then the losing control — it cost somebody their life. I thank God that she survived.”
She, being the passenger, Raven Wiley, who suffered a ruptured eardrum and second- and third-degree burns.
“It was unbearable,” Wiley said. “I wanted the pain to stop.”
Wiley came to, standing outside the car with the right side of her body on fire.
“I’m thankful to be alive,” Wiley said. “I thank God every time I wake up in the morning.”
She said it’s hard because it was a bad situation and more importantly she lost someone she loved.
“I’m sorry it happened,” Wiley said. “There’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing I could do then.”
Patton admits her son made a mistake driving too fast, but she said he was a good person, full of life and love.
“He was very caring, helped others,” Patton said, “honest and a good friend to people.”
He leaves behind four children, three brothers and several friends he made feel like they were family.
“It was definitely heartbreaking because I grew up with him,” longtime family friend Tristen Lang said. “He was like a big brother to me that I never had.”
After learning what the loss of a child feels like, Patton has a message for other moms out there: “Let them know that they’re responsible of what happens when they’re behind the wheel,” Patton said. “It will save other people’s lives if not your own.”
