Trent was the youngest of 10 children, thus the spelling of his full name, Trenten. He was a loving son, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend. He had this quiet presence about him, but you always knew he was there because he was so goofy and funny. Trent was respectful to everyone and you knew you could trust him with anything.

Trent was an excellent mechanic and loved working on cars, regardless of what time of day it was or what time of the year. He was working for a car parts store in Tooele and driving to Salt Lake Community College, sometimes a couple of times a day, where he had been taking classes.

The winter of 2011–2012 had been relatively mild. On January 27, 2012, Trent, his nephew, and his nephew’s wife had planned to go camping. Before Trent had left to meet them, his nephew called him and told him that their car was stuck in the mud, so Trent quickly gathered his gear to go help them. Since Trent and I lived together and took care of each other, he was worried about leaving me alone. I told him that I needed to learn to be okay on my own because it was only a matter of time before he would move out and start his new life. I just didn’t know that it would be that very night.

The accident happened in the blink of an eye. The three of them couldn’t get the car out of the mud so they were heading back to Tooele on S.R. 36 to borrow a truck. Trent was a diabetic, and because he had been working on that car for so long, his blood sugar levels had dropped. He bent down to grab something to eat and in that instant the road turned slightly and the car went off the road.  When Trent tried to get it corrected, the car hit the road on the driver’s side, rolled a few times, and threw Trent from the car.

I received a call just before midnight telling me that there had been an accident and that Trent had been taken by Life Flight to the University of Utah Hospital. The doctors and nurses worked on Trent for a couple of hours, but the trauma to his head was too much. At 1:21 a.m., Saturday, January 28, my baby was pronounced dead.

Trent was a constant source of happiness for everyone around him. Everyone who knew him adored him. His loss has created a permanent void in our lives.

My hope for anyone reading this story is for you to always remember how quickly and easily accidents happen, even if you take your eyes off the road for only a second. Even a brief moment of distraction can have a lasting impact on your life, as well as those around you.