On August 2, 2021, Trevor Doom, age 26 along with his fiancé, her mother, her mother’s boyfriend, and a 14 year old cousin of the fiancé were in their car exiting the driveway of a business when semi driver ran a red light and hit them broadside. 5 lives were lost in an instant from the impact of the crash. Trevor was the front seat passenger. It was estimated the semi was traveling 55 to 60 mph at the time of impact. Trevor and his fiancé were recently engaged and formal introductions of their families were never able to occur.
Trevor Doom was born 3 months prematurely weighing only 1 lb 11oz. He was given only a 10-15% chance of surviving. He spent 3 months in Kosair Children’s Hospital before coming home with only mild cerebral palsy. His parents were told that he may never walk, talk, see, or hear but he overcame all other odds and lived only with his left side being weaker than his right. He never let his disability slow him down on pursuing his dreams. He wanted to become the 3rd generation volunteer firefighter in his family just as his grandfather and uncle had been, which he did through hard work and perseverance.
He not only became a firefighter, but he had been the fire chief of the Wicklifee Rural Fire Department for two years when he passed away. He was known as the 1st to arrive on scene and the last to leave the station after cleaning up after a call. Trevor Doom dedicated his life to serving his community and giving back to others. He loved telling people how you can achieve anything if you believe in yourself. He would tell you that he never looked at things with an “I can’t” attitude, but rather “how can I adapt this situation with my limitations to achieve what I want.”
It is because of how Trevor lived his life that his family finds the strength to share his story and push for changes to make semi drivers more accountable. They were successful in lowering the speed limit where the crash occurred and continue to look for ways to push for more changes so that roads can be safer for us all.