A heartbroken mother whose husband and two children died in a horror car crash has spoken out about the harrowing experience.
Sit along PeopleLauren Muckleroy, 44, recalled the exact moment she learned her entire immediate family had died.
The family of four had been traveling from their home in Fort Worth, Texas, to her parents’ home in Johnson City on November 23, 2023 – the night before Thanksgiving – when a drunk driver crashed head-on into their car.
Lauren was driving at the time and the impact of the crash left her with two broken arms, a series of spinal fractures and a ruptured intestine. She was the only survivor.
Her beloved husband, Zach, 12-year-old son Judson and daughter, 9, were all killed instantly.
“I remember a police officer telling me that all three were gone,” she said of the words that changed her life.
‘I remember thinking, “What will my life be like now? Where will all my love go?,” the heartbroken mother added.
Since recovering, Lauren has described how she deals with the emotional wounds of losing her beautiful family.
“Sometimes I won’t cry for a day, and other days I won’t cry.”
Lauren Muckleroy’s husband, Zach, and their two children – 12-year-old Judson and 9-year-old Lindsay – were killed in November 2023 after a drunk driver struck their car head-on
The children – along with their father – were pronounced dead at the scene. A year later, their mother, the only survivor of the accident, spoke out about the ordeal
“It’s washing over me,” she added, revealing that she still hasn’t been able to bring herself to unpack the three bags from the trip.
Lauren now lives near her sister in Austin, but still owns her family’s home in Fort Worth. ‘Life will never be normal again. “I will miss them forever,” she said.
To get through the past year, she described how she poured her heart into relief work and helped children who had lost their parents.
“I wanted my energy to go into something that wasn’t a reminder of this tragedy,” said Lauren, who recently chaired a nonprofit gala that raised about $700,000. “It’s great to be able to throw myself into something uplifting.”
She further said that it was her way of paying respects to the dearly departed.
“I want my focus to be on remembering it,” she said, calling Lindsay a “feisty… hothead” and noting that Judson — better known as Juddy — “had such a good heart.”
Recalling the boy’s love of baseball and pickleball, she described appearing at his baseball team’s championship game this year.
“I’ve tried to sit with the grief and feel it, even though it’s hard,” she explained.
“It’s washing over me,” she said during the one-on-one interview, revealing that she still hasn’t been able to bring herself to unpack the bags from their ill-fated road trip.
She now lives near her sister in Austin, but still owns her family’s old home in Fort Worth
Lauren said she remains close to those who knew her family best — something that can be difficult considering many of her children’s friends are still struggling with the loss
Lauren said she remains close to those who knew her family best — something that can be difficult as many of her children’s friends are still struggling with the loss.
She went on to describe how at a fundraiser in the spring, a group of her late daughter’s friends showed up wearing pug onesies – the girl’s favorite dog.
“I was sad, but when I hugged these girls, I felt joy,” she said.
Lauren recalled encouraging the youth to “talk about (the loss), (and) not pretend it didn’t happen.” Meanwhile, she admits that “life will never be normal again.”
“I will miss them forever,” she said. “We sometimes think that to find hope or joy we have to eliminate sadness, but it is possible that you can experience both at the same time.”
But “it can still be good,” the still-grieving mother added. ‘It sounds crazy to say, but I see so much good coming from our situation. The worst is never the last. I really believe that.’
In the meantime, Lauren said she finds comfort in the fact that her husband and children continue to live on through memories and the continued outpouring of support from those who knew them.
“I have felt the unfairness of this, not just for me, but for all three of them,” she said.
“I will miss them forever,” said the still-grieving mother. “We sometimes think that to find hope or joy we have to eliminate sadness, but it is possible that you can experience both at the same time.”
“Those hard firsts,” she said of things like birthdays and the first time back to school, “we really love them and remember them and just feel it.”
At the time of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said the Muckleroy family was traveling south when a man driving a Toyota pickup northbound “crossed the highway and collided head-on” with their Chevy Suburban .
Connor McKim, the 25-year-old driver who died shortly after the crash, was later found to have had a blood alcohol level of .261 – more than three times the legal limit of .08.
DailyMail.com has contacted Muckleroy for comment.