Photograph by George Sakkestad
Robert Hughey looks forward to returning to work later this summer.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Diane Hughey said it was a miracle that her husband, Bob, was home two days after Christmas.
The 40-year-old Sunnyvale resident had fractured his pelvis, head and neck, and dislocated his elbow in an Oct. 17 car accident that killed the couple's 11-year-old son, Richard Lloyd Hughey.
"At [that] point, if you had told me he'd be home from the hospital, I'd have said, 'No way,' " his wife said.
Prior to the accident, Bob Hughey had had a normal evening. He drove to pick up his son from catechism and had planned to stop at a fast-food restaurant on El Camino Real to buy Richard a burger on the way home.
But as the two headed onto Highway 85, Bob lost control of his new Camaro on Highway 85 and hit a sound wall.
"I remember picking him up [at the church] and that I took 85 because he was hungry, and we were going to stop for something to eat," Hughey said.
Hughey said the airbag system in his car may have malfunctioned, causing the airbags to inflate before he had hit anything.
"If that's the case, it's a wrongful death," Diane Hughey added.
The California Highway Patrol has forwarded the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office for further investigation. The Hugheys also have hired an attorney to investigate the case.
Bob Hughey spent four weeks in Stanford Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit, three weeks at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and another three weeks at a convalescent home.
"For the first four days, the doctors weren't sure if I would make it," he said.
Hughey is hopeful that, by August, he can return to his job doing facilities maintenance for WSJ Properties in Palo Alto.
Four months after the accident, he continues to undergo physical therapy to recover from his injuries. He said he tires easily from the therapy, but is fortunate to have parents in Sunnyvale who can help him.
Hughey also has difficulty reading. A blood vessel broke in his brain and he is working with fourth-grade material to learn again, he said.
"I understand the words, but I have trouble recognizing them on the page," he said.
The hardest aspect of the accident for Hughey is to cope with the loss of his son. He said the accident has changed his values and outlook on life. Although he once loved cars and used to race them, Hughey said he could care less about them now.
"My family and friends are the most important," he said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 21, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.