“I have never felt this pain in my life,” Jacqueline Watson, who lost her daughter Brittany in the accident, told Inside Edition.
Friends and family are sharing their grief after a birthday slumber party turned deadly.
Four teens who were invited to an August birthday sleepover in Indiana were accidentally killed by another driver while pushing a stalled vehicle outside the party, according to cops.
It was 15-year-old Victoria Valdivia's birthday and her mother, Cara Selby, was throwing the party.
At about 11 p.m., Selby went to buy more candy for the festivities. But on her way back, her SUV stalled in the middle of the road.
She called the kids, asking them to come out and help push the vehicle back to her home, which was just a few hundred feet away in the town of Cortland. The hazard lights were on and several of the kids used their cellphone flashlights to warn other drivers on the road.
Eight of the teens were pushing the SUV when another vehicle plowed into them.
Four teens, including Nevaeh Law, 14; Jenna Helton, 14; Brittany Watson, 15; and Martin Martinez, 16, were killed. The four other teens were injured.
“I think the kids did what they were raised to do — help,” Torre Collins, the mother of Nevaeh Law, told Inside Edition. “It still seems like a dream, a nightmare I’m expecting to wake up from."
“I have never felt this pain in my life. I just felt my heart break,” added Jacqueline Watson, who lost her daughter Brittany in the accident.
The driver of the SUV that hit the teens has not been charged, according to reports. The investigation is ongoing but toxicology reports for both drivers came back clean.
The tragedy is a reminder of how dangerous it can be if your vehicle stalls in the road. Every circumstance is different, according to Robert Sinclair of AAA.
“The first thing you do is make yourself visible," he told Inside Edition. "Put on the four-way flashers."
Sinclair also suggests hanging a bright colored shirt from the window and recommends keeping reflectors in your car.
“Place them such that you're channeling traffic away from the vehicle," he said.
If it's safe to do so, get your car off the road, but if you can’t, never stand directly in front of or behind the vehicle.
"You want to get as far away from the vehicle by the side of the road as possible in case the vehicle is struck. You won’t be hit by any flying debris," Sinclair said.
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