Girl trying to save sick pet dies in stolen car crash
Sometimes, the news I find is just sad.
A 15-year-old girl died Tuesday in a dramatic, ill-advised, effort to save her cancer-stricken dog from euthanasia.
Taylor Mae Stinchcomb, 15, died trying to prevent her dog from being euthanized.
According to an article in the Chicago Sun Times, Taylor Mae Stinchcomb, 15, stole her family’s 2003 Dodge minivan and fled her Chicago-area home with her ill dog, Romulus, and a female friend, also 15.
When Taylor became too upset to drive, her unnamed friend took the wheel. Moments later, the friend lost control of the vehicle and crashed into several trees and a telephone pole.
The dog was thrown from the vehicle and died immediately. Taylor died of her injuries at a local hospital. The driver escaped almost without a scratch.
Drugs or alcohol were not a factor in the crash, police said.
Police are not sure where the girls were headed or what they planned to do.
Taylor picked the dog out while visiting an animal shelter on her 13th birthday.
A high school freshman, Taylor is survived by two sisters, a brother and her parents, Bill and LeeAnn Stinchcomb.
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95 comments Add your comment
JG2004
June 29th, 2011
12:30 pm
Knowing Taylor personally (I really do), I know why she did what she did. She was 15 and made a spur of the moment choices that turned deadly.
How many of us ADULTS have chosen to go for a drive after a arugument with our significant or other, perhaps you had one to many drinks but still drove home. See, we all have made a bone head decision too. We don’t think about the “what ifs” until they become a relaity.
Taylor was a great kid, stand out athelte and very involved in her church youth group, Impact.
She loved Romulus with all of her heart and I know she is worshiping with her savoir today. I also believe that she is running around with Rom in heaven as well.
I challenge you, the readers to have a heart! Love on your friends and family and reconnect with those who you’ve lost contacted with over the years and show them God’s love. That’s what Taylor would want for you.
She was young but she was far beyond her years. I’ve lost many of friends and family members but unfortantely no one has left quite the LEGACY that Taylor has.
I love you Taylor, you were the best “little sister” that I could have ever asked for. I’m thankful that your sister who loves you very much let me be apart of your life.
Rest in Peace Tay!
Cheering an Arizona Mucho Mango to you!
Jeremiah 29.11
angiebthatsme
June 29th, 2011
10:28 pm
so sad for the families and for the surviving teen who has to bear this for the remainder of her life.
AnimalLover
June 30th, 2011
7:06 am
DamnAnimalLovers is an idiot. What makes this news article so poignant is the fact that this young woman cared so much about her dog. I’ve found in life that people who care about animals are better people than those who do not.
KidstheseDays
June 30th, 2011
10:51 am
DAL never gets laid and hates his life. It’s really that obvious. Nobody cares about the poor kid so he seeks attention on the internet. It’s pathetic.
Chemequa
July 1st, 2011
2:50 am
If she got the dog for her 13th birthday, and she was now only 15, why was the dog to be euthanized? Was the dog sick, old, what???
Katie
July 1st, 2011
10:27 pm
This is the saddest story i can recall ever reading. I feel for her and her family. On the other hand, when I was that age, I would have done nearly the same thing except for taking the car (I know I would have ben killed once I came back home-no exaggeration). But I would have run and hid with my pet (even though being beat half to death would have been the punishment). Having known how she felt about her dog (and probably all animals because that’s me all over again and still, even being decades older than she is now) I think her parents shoulda let her deal with the situation in her own way. The dog would have eventually died, or having seen the pain it was experiencing, she would have come around and asked for the euthenasia herself. And her parents shoud have used that time to prepare her for it. God bess her.
Katie
July 1st, 2011
10:29 pm
Chemequa, read the article again. It states the dog had cancer.
Dr Octogon
July 2nd, 2011
3:41 pm
“Stupid is as stupid does.” I’ll save my sick dog by killing it AND myself in a car crash. Makes perfect sense.
And to the moron that said stealing isn’t the same as taking something without permission…I suggest you invest in a dictionary, because that is the very definition of theft.
ashton
July 3rd, 2011
9:57 pm
this is a horrifically sad story, but unfortunately-many to most of you missed the POINT! it’s more about the poor to no communication skills of parents today. something could have been said to avert the childs’ need to take a vehicle and leave….i recently moved to southern georgia (waycross) where the average age of conception is 11 and many to most girls begin having sex at 9. more than 30% of these young ladys are impregnated by their fathers. ppl still spit in their hands to wash them at resturants, still spit in cups and on floors in public buildings, and theres a city FULL of white women w/black eyes in public daily. to say the kids are affected is an understatement.
DALisa12yroldtroll
July 4th, 2011
9:57 am
I am so sad for this girl. She had a good heart. Should not have died so young doing something while misguided was full of compassion. Life is never fair.