Barry Loudermilk: “I also want to thank, again, my dear colleague and friend from Savannah, Georgia, for yielding me this time and allowing…”

“I also want to thank, again, my dear colleague and friend from Savannah, Georgia, for yielding me this time and allowing me to honor another Georgian who passed 18 years ago. It was 18 years ago, in June, as Georgia heat blanketed the Inman family as they packed their car for a family getaway in the mountains of north Georgia. It was the Friday before Father's Day when Billy and Kathy Inman, the parents of their son, Dustin, and their family dog set off to go on a fishing trip for the weekend. As they headed north, making their way along the wooded, hilly highways that make up that part of my home State, they stopped at a traffic light in the little town of Ellijay, Georgia. {time} 1845 As they waited for the light to turn green, the Inman family's lives were suddenly and tragically changed. Traveling well over the speed limit at 62 miles an hour, a car driven by Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez slammed in the rear of the Inmans' vehicle. The tremendous impact knocked Billy and Kathy unconscious. Kathy, Dustin's mom, remained in a comma for 5 weeks. When she finally regained consciousness, she learned that the injuries she sustained in that wreck were so severe she would be wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life. But more tragically, she was told the heartbreaking news that her son, Dustin, was killed by that tremendous impact. Within seconds, their lives were forever changed by the driver who slammed into the rear of their car.…”