An Idaho grandmother took a photo of her three-year-old granddaughter just seconds before she died while picking flowers in a hit-and-run accident.
Samantha Jensen’s mother was babysitting young Scarlett and her two-year-old brother Henry when the unthinkable happened in 2022.
Only now, two years later, does she feel ready to share the final image of her children playing together before Scarlett tragically died.
In a post on TikTok, Samantha wrote: ‘My mom took this photo at 4:47 pm and my daughter’s time of death was 4:52. My mom didn’t know she was capturing the last moments of her life.
“I looked at the timestamp and realized it was only five minutes away from the stated time of their death, so it must have been seconds before the person hit them.”
Samantha Jensen posted the photo on TikTok and wrote: ‘My mom took this photo at 4:47 pm and my daughter’s time of death was 4:52. My mom didn’t know she was capturing the last moments of her life.
“Scarlett died almost instantly and my mom and Henry were seriously injured,” the girl’s mother recalled.
“This is really hard for me to watch, just knowing what comes next breaks my heart.”
Jamie had just returned home from taking the kids out for ice cream when Scarlett got out of her stroller to pick flowers.
“That’s when my mom took the last photograph I have of her alive.”
While the girl was busy picking yellow and purple flowers in her private driveway, a Chevy Tahoe came speeding down the dirt road. This shocked Scarlett, as well as her little brother and grandmother.
Before the Tahoe hit them, Jamie yelled at the driver to stop and tried to push her grandchildren out of the way.
But the man driving the car was going “too fast.”
While the girl was busy picking yellow and purple flowers in her private driveway, a Chevy Tahoe came speeding down the dirt road. This shocked Scarlett, as well as her little brother and grandmother.
“Scarlett died almost instantly and my mom and Henry were seriously injured,” Samantha recalled. People.
The heartbroken mother did not realize until weeks later that her mother had taken a photograph documenting Scarlett’s final moments.
“My mom lost her phone when they got attacked and it took us a while to find it, so when we finally did, I was going through the photos and found that one,” Samantha said.
At first, looking at the photo was “unbearable” for Samantha.
‘It was extremely painful for me to watch at first. How do you accept the existence of a “last photograph” of your son?
Scarlett was murdered while picking purple and yellow flowers.
But two years later, he has come to appreciate the photo and finds solace in the peaceful scene it depicts. sharing it on your TikTok account prompting heartwarming responses from strangers.
Samantha said: ‘I’m incredibly grateful to have that photo. Capture the peaceful feeling of her last moments, the beauty that surrounded her when she breathed her last.
“I will always imagine her happy and carefree, picking flowers with her best friend and Meemaw.”
After the collision, Henry had to be flown to a children’s hospital where they “found a fractured spine, six broken ribs, a broken jaw, a broken collarbone, a liver laceration, and several other injuries.”
The two-year-old “spent a week in the PICU before he was stable enough to return home, and was in a full-body brace for 10 weeks,” Samantha said.
Eventually, Henry and his grandmother managed to recover from their serious injuries.
But the grieving family is still struggling with emotional wounds. Born on New Year’s Day 2019, Scarlett was “the long-awaited first child” of Samantha and her husband.
Scarlett loved being a big sister and considered her brother, Henry, her best friend.
Jim Patton, Scarlett’s grandfather, said KHQ that she was “so full of life, so full of love…such a smart girl.”
“A piece of my soul is gone.”
Samantha described her daughter as “the silliest, sweetest girl.”
“She loved horses, unicorns, being a big sister and the Frozen movies. and Spirit.
‘The absolute joy of his life was his brothers. He loved helping take care of baby Molly and playing with his best friend Henry.
Without Scarlett running around, “the house feels so quiet and empty without her.”
The family is still struggling to understand the actions of the driver involved in the incident. After initially fleeing the scene on foot, authorities detained him a few miles away.
‘How do you do that? How do you get away from suffering?’ -Patton asked.
Samantha described her daughter as “the silliest, sweetest girl.”
According to Samantha, the driver is now serving ten years in prison, although he was credited with two years for the time he spent behind bars during the judicial process.
Sometimes the mother finds her grief overwhelming. “Some days I feel like I’m drowning and other days I’m able to stay afloat.”
Samantha said she decided to share her emotional journey on social media so others could see “that it’s okay to cry out loud.”
‘You don’t have to do it quietly. Talk about your people, shout their names loud and proud and never stop sharing their stories.’