‘Worst phone call of my life’: Longs, SC teen hit by vehicle on Halloween still in ICU

Dung Nguyen had taken his son trick or treating on Halloween night in Little River.

The neighborhood was near North Myrtle Beach Middle School, where Nguyen’s son, Michael, or Mikie as he’s called by family, attends.

Mikie was with friends, and the area was busy that evening with other parents and children climbing in and out of vehicles along Highway 90, Nguyen said.

Nguyen was waiting at about 7 p.m. for Mikie to return to his vehicle that was parked along the roadway when he heard a thud. He looked out, heard screaming and called 911, he said.

“I did not realize it was my son,” Nguyen said. It wasn’t until car lights illuminated the area that terror filled the father.

“That’s when I recognized his clothes,” he said. “That’s when I recognized it was my son.”

The 14-year-old eighth grader had been hit by a vehicle, knocking him out of his shoes and sending him into the air. He landed about three car lengths from where the collision occurred, Nguyen said.

There were several witnesses to the accident, Nguyen said, including a teacher, who shielded other children from seeing Mikie’s body.

‘Worst phone call of my life’

Nguyen and his wife, Jennifer, of Longs, have spent the last two weeks sitting beside their son, who is in the ICU at Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach.

Mikie suffered a broken clavicle, lacerated kidney, three microscopic brain bleeds and a concussion, his parents said. He also couldn’t move his ankle or toes on his left leg, and only in the last day was able to regain some feeling. The teen will have to undergo occupational therapy as well as physical therapy to help him walk.

Mikie was excited to go trick or treating this year because this was the first time his parents allowed him to walk around by himself, his father said.

Asked what he remembers about that night, Mikie told his parents that he was walking when he saw lights and turned. That was it.

When Nguyen went back to the accident site the next day, he found part of Mikie’s ninja costume, a sword, in a bush on the other side of the road. They never did find his mask.

“Worst phone call of my life,” his mother said about receiving notice of Mikie’s accident.

Pedestrians can be held responsible under state law

The driver, Sarah Elizabeth Vaught, 55, of Little River, was arrested and charged with driving under suspension, failure to return license plate and registration and operating an uninsured vehicle.

She was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Nov. 1 and released on $1,242.50 bail.

A phone number for Vaught could not be found. An attorney was not listed for Vaught in the online court records.

Nguyen has a copy of the field report he received from the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which investigated the accident. The report lists Mikie, not the driver, as contributing to the accident.

Initial information provided by SCHP said that it appeared Mikie was crossing the road. However, Nguyen claims Mikie wasn’t in the roadway, but along the side of the road when he was hit.

There are no sidewalks along that area of Highway 90, Jennifer Nguyen said. For her, it’s concerning because there is a school nearby and neighborhoods.

Nguyen believes the driver should be held responsible, not the pedestrian. He said if that is how the law is going to see it, then students shouldn’t be allowed to cross the street to get to the school, or wait for the bus along the highway.

“I’m having a hard time understanding,” Nguyen said.

When it comes to South Carolina law, there is a responsibility of not only the motorist, but also the pedestrian on any roadway, according to Lance Cpl. Lena Butler with the SCHP.

If the pedestrian is not abiding by the law, or contrary to the law, “there’s always a possibility” that a pedestrian could be considered at fault, Butler said.

“In our investigation, we have to go with the facts,” Butler said. “Every investigation is based in facts.”

Terri Richardson

The Sun News