Tucson mother loses 11-year-old son in accident on I-10 near Chandler

TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily) – A Tucson mother tells the heartbreaking story of how she lost her son when a tire blew out while driving on I-10 south of Chandler.

Her car was thrown into a ditch and then back onto the highway before being struck by a pickup truck. Her 11-year-old son was in the car and did not survive.

Irene Harms remembers every single moment during the whole chaos.

She lay upside down in the car, trying to save her little boy. But when she called out to him and got no answer, she knew something was wrong.

“And I’m just screaming, Noley, say something and nothing,” Irene said.

Irene and her son Donald, whom she calls Noley, were on their way home to Tucson early Tuesday morning after visiting Phoenix for a doctor's appointment.

They had just stopped at the gas station to get a snack and were driving east on I-10 when their tire blew out, throwing them into a ditch next to the highway and then back onto the roadway before being struck by a pickup truck heading in the same direction.

“The noise was as loud as it could be and I gripped the steering wheel as tight as I could,” she said.

The accident occurred on I-10 eastbound near State Route 347. Irene says the car rolled over several times and eventually landed crushed on its roof.

“As we turn around, I stretch out my arm and try to find him,” she said.

She says she dragged herself out the window through the broken glass to save Noley. Passersby tried to help, but it was too late.

“I knew he was gone, even though no one told me he was gone, but he had to be gone because why is everyone trying to help me and not him,” she said. “I fell back, laid down on the asphalt in the glass, stared up at the sky and said, 'Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to go too.' I couldn't imagine leaving him there and him being gone.”

Despite the immediate grief and chaos, Irene said a paramedic saved her life, not through his physical intervention but through his words.

“He said, 'Listen, I lost a child recently. I know what you're going through.' I said, 'How can you still be here? How can you be going through this?' And he said, 'Do you have other children?' And that flipped a switch in my mind because I realized I had two little boys at home, five and six, who had no idea what was happening and couldn't lose mommy and brother. I don't know if he knows that he saved my life that day in more ways than one because I was willing to lay down and die with him (Noley).”

Irene tries to stay strong for her family. She describes Noley as a unique little boy, too good for this world.

“I miss him every second of the day,” she said.

Irene has a broken back and ribs, as well as cuts on her arms, back and legs. She was only released from hospital on Friday morning.

The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with Noley's funeral expenses.

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