It was a sunny Saturday in Lubbock, Texas when the accident happened.

Ran Jones was 11 and had just watched a soapbox derby race on TV.

And of course, being 11, I got it into my head that we just had to build one and maybe

we'd push each other.

She and a friend found this old vegetable crate and decided to put wheels on it.

So they crouched down in her driveway, started pulling nails from the crate.

And that's when Ran's friend smashed her right in the face with the hammer.

I tried to pull my face out of the way and the hammer came up and the claw of the hammer

took me up under my front teeth and then caught my lip and nose.

And it hurt so bad.

He broke one front tooth and half and chipped the other.

They laid down and my mouth was just like watering so bad that I'm trying to scream, I'm

trying to cry but I can't make any sound come out.

As a kid, Ran was all about adventure, even if it meant getting a few bruises.

Like when she was three, she jumped out of a tree house just to see if she could fly.

And instead of dolls, she preferred skateboards and skin needs.

But this was a different kind of hurt.

They couldn't even breathe with my mouth because it hurt.

Like every little bit of air on it hurt.

Oh my gosh.

And remember this kid running across the lawn and he pounds on the door and he's yelling,

Mrs. Foltz, Mrs. Foltz, I killed Ryan.

...