New mom's 'nagging' text to husband about car seat ends up saving baby's life

New mom Rebecca Tafaro Boyer was away from her baby, William, for the first time in three months. Like most parents dealing with a tiny life they're suddenly in charge of, Rebecca displayed behavior some may criticize as "overly protective." So when she handed William off to her husband, David, to go back to work, she requested he send her "hourly updates and recaps" on how her infant was doing.

David did exactly that and when he snapped a photo of William in his car seat and sent it to Rebecca, her first instinct was to "nag" him and instruct her hubby on how to adjust the seat belt for optimum safety results.

"My nagging wife reply was to correct William’s position in the car seat. The straps were too loose and the chest clip was way too low. And because I know my husband, I’m sure that he laughed at me and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip."

And it's a good thing that Rebecca sent that "nagging" text, because 15 minutes later David called her with bad news. "Honey, we had a car wreck. We are fine, but the car is going to be totaled."

When he was only three miles away from their home, someone had pulled into traffic to turn left and David didn't have enough time to stop the car.

He had "slammed on the brakes at nearly 50 miles an hour before colliding with the front passenger side door of her SUV," Rebecca wrote in her Facebook post about the incident. She continued, "My precious little bundle of joy was so well restrained in his car seat THAT HE DIDN’T EVEN WAKE UP. Even with the impact of the two cars, William only received a minor jolt — so insignificant that he was able to continue on with his nap, and then spend the next two hours flirting with nurses in the Le Bonheur ED."

While William didn't even wake up from his nap after the accident, her husband was not as fortunate. He dislocated three of his toes and his foot broke in three separate places, necessitating the use of crutches. Their car is also a "total loss", meaning they're going to have to get a new whip following the wreck, But, as Rebecca says that while "cars can be replaced [her] boys can't."

She shared her story in order to help other parents "nag" themselves and others into taking the extra time to ensure their baby's safety. Remember: all infants should be placed in rear-facing seats in the back seat of a car while commuting that's secured in an unmovable car seat base. They should be fastened in a five-point seat belt with the upper clasp across the chest and the straps over the shoulders. 

I am so thankful that my husband took the extra one minute that was necessary to put William in his car seat safely. I can’t even begin to imagine how different the outcome could have been. I truly believe that the reason my family is at home sitting on the couch with a pair of crutches instead of down at the hospital is because of my annoying nagging mom voice."

Rebecca initially shared the post on her private Facebook page and then made it public at the behest of her friends. She was shocked by how far it had ultimately traveled across the rest of the internet.

Since she first published the story online, it's garnered over 44,000 shares - but there's more to Rebecca's tale.

The driver they ended up getting into an accident with didn't have car insurance or even a driver's license. Thankfully, they had uninsured driver's insurance and donated the new car seat they received as a courtesy of their provider to another needy individual courtesy of the Forrest Spence Fund.

Folks who read the post praised Rebecca's "nagging mom instinct" and echoed, for anyone else listening, just how important properly securing a car seat is.