On Monday night, August 23, Katrina Kracmer was running late for a support group meeting. She was rushing down the sidewalk on Gaston Avenue in her motorized wheelchair when a car hopped the curb and crashed into her.
The driver just sped away.
Katrina was critically injured, but held on for four more days. Her family took her off of life support on Friday afternoon, and she died almost immediately afterwards.
Dallas police are still looking for her killer.
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Katrina was born with spina bifida, a disorder in which the spinal column fails to close completely. As a result, she was paralyzed from the waist down. She wore braces on her legs and used crutches to get around.
I met Katrina in 1988, when my mom was dating her dad Frank. And she was like any other 12-year-old girl in most regards. She was adorable, giggly, naive, sweet, occasionally bratty...
For some reason, she took a liking to me almost immediately. Any time I was around her, she would cling to my arm or hold my hand. When I went to visit Mom and Frank (they married in 1990), Katrina would insist that I sit next to her at dinner.
I guess it was a crush. And even as I grumblingly endured it, deep down inside I was totally eating it up. Who wouldn't want to be adored, especially by someone as remarkable as Katrina?
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I wish I could say that we stayed in touch, that she remained an important part of my life. But sadly, Mom and Frank divorced and Katrina and I just sort of lost touch. I would occasionally see her brother Joe, who would bring me up to date. And each time, Katrina's life seemed to be tinged with more and more tragedy.
She had dropped out of high school in the 10th grade, and was struggling to get by. She had been using drugs and drinking way too much, and for a time she had even lived on the street.
But as Joe said, "She had an innocent, childlike perspective on life. She believed there was good in everything."
Katrina really was trying to turn things around, and she was making astonishing progress. She'd sworn off the drugs four years ago. She'd given birth to a son two years ago, the stress of which had left her in a wheelchair. But even now, she was going through rehabilitation, trying to learn once more how to move around on the crutches.
She'd gotten married in February to a guy she met in the Dallas Life Foundation. And for the past two months, she'd been sober. She was on her way to an alcoholics recovery group meeting when she was killed.
God damn it.
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Trina, you were truly a beautiful and remarkable person. I wish I had done better by you. I wish we all had.
Rest in peace.
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4 comments:
Chris, I promise I'm not a stranger stalker, but I am enjoying reading your posts, even though I no longer remember how I found your blog in the first place. Your post about Katrina is wonderful, how she would love to know that you're still thinking of her even if you lost touch. How her life still has meaning to those she knew. I hope her husband and son are coping as best they can. I hope they find the fucker who killed her.
Thanks, SJ. I appreciate that.
I KNEW KATRINA ALSO SHE WAS ALSO AN ABUSED CHILD BY HER ALCOHOLIC FATHER. HER FATHER WAS PHYSICALLY ABUSSIVE TO HER AND HER STORY IS A LONG ONE SHE HAD FORGIVEN HER DAD. HOWEVER HIS AMENDS TO HER WAS A BIG FUNERAL. WOW HOW SPECIAL. KATRINA WAS VERY MUCH LOVED BY HER SISTERS AND BROTHERS. KATRINA ONLY WANTED LOVE AND RESPECT SHE HAD HYDROCEPHALIS AND LEARNING DISABILITIES AND SUFFERED MANY INDEGNATIES AND PREJUDICE BECAUSE OF HER HANDICAP. KATRINA LOVED HER MOTHER AND WAS VERY CLOSE TO HER THEIR WERE NO SECRETS BETWEEN THEM. i AM HER MOTHER AND SHE HAS MANY CLOSE FRIENDS THAT DID MANY THINGS FOR HER AND WHEN SHE WAS ON THE STREETS HER MOTHER KNEW MANY ANONYMOUS PEOPLE THAT WERE HER FRIENDS THAT WOULD INFORM HER OF WHERE KATRINA WAS NONE OF THIS KNOWN TO PEOPLE THAT KNEW FRANK. HER FATHER NEEDS PRAYERS AS HE IS VERY FEEBLE MINDED KNOW FROM THE DISEASE OF ALCOHOLISM HE HAS ALWAYS FOUND AN ENABLEING WIFE TO TAKE CARE OF HIM. HE IS A CHILD OF GOD AND WAS A GOOD MAN UNTIL ALCOHOLISM CHANGED HIM. KATRINA INHERITED THIS DISEASE FROM BOTH SIDES OF HER FAMILY AND THIS DISEASE RUNS RAMPIT IN SOCIETY I WAS SO PROUD OF HER AND SHE IS WITH ME NOW SO I MUST SPEAK FOR HER SHE IS MY ANGEL NO ONE IN HER FAMILY KNEW HER LIKE HER MOTHER. HER KILLERS ARE OUT THERE AND LIFE WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM. GOD IS BUSY TAKING CARE OF ALL OF US.
Hello Chris,
I just read your blog about Katrina. You see I am her sister. I also read what mom wrote and felt very compelled to add a bit myself. I am still struggling with the loss of my only sister. I miss her more than words could ever say. I see myself in the mirror now, and I see her staring back at me. You see, we look very much alike. I picture the scene in the hospital and hear the sounds of the machines as her body gave out when they were turned off. She was hit my first day in college, and since then my life goal is to work at the hospital that took care of her for so many years (Texas Scottish Rite Hospital). I am almost there now, and I soon see children like her having a nurse that can truly sympathize. Your story was compelling, but the reality of her death was truly grim, especially to those who truly knew her (ie. the one who shared a room with her for many years). She will never be forgotten, and her memory will live on through those who choose to remember. No one will ever know me like my sis. Thank you for getting her story out there in another form. One of these days the fucker who killed her will suffer for what he has done, whether it be by means of my 4x4 truck or God!!
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