CENTERVILLE -- If Jacob Park had worn a helmet, two families wouldn't be suffering his loss, his mother says.
Cher Park said her 12-year-old son died Sunday from head injuries sustained in a bicycle/automobile accident.
"I should've been more strict with the helmet rules," she said.
Her youngest son was not wearing a helmet when he rode his bicycle into a crosswalk at the intersection of 400 West and Chase Lane in Centerville and was struck by a car driven by Evelyn Cook on Sept. 22.
"He was only one block from home," Cher Park said.
"He was hit by our very best friend, and she's devastated. All of her five kids were in the car with her."
Jacob was flown by helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
According to a news release Monday, police are not filing charges against Cook.
That decision was made following an investigation that determined the crash occurred in low light conditions. Police also reported Jacob was wearing dark clothing, did not have a light on his bicycle and entered the crosswalk suddenly.
Cher Park said the Cook children recognized her son's bike. One of them called one of the Park children to tell the family about the accident, and the Park family rushed to the scene.
"This has been so traumatic for both families," Cher Park said. "It wasn't (Cook's) fault at all."
The Park family spent the next 12 days at Primary Children's Medical Center praying for a miracle.
"His brain was too damaged," said Jacob's mother.
Doctors told the Parks their youngest child would always be on life-support machines.
Cher and her husband, Robert Park, who is a chiropractor, took their son off the life-support machines Sunday.
"We had so many miracles, we decided we needed one more miracle for another child," Cher Park said.
The family donated Jacob's organs and tissues so that other children would be given a chance at life, she said.
Jacob was a seventh-grader at Centerville Junior High School. He had just received the rank of Star in Boy Scouts, said his father.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy was known for giving service to others.
"He would help anyone in the neighborhood," Cher Park said.
And that is what the family thinks Jacob was doing just before the accident, she said.
Her son had delivered a note to a girl from one of his friends and then was trying to get back home before dark.
Jacob helped coach a Special Olympics soccer team. He also spent a lot of time helping his brother Jordan, 16, who has a form of juvenile arthritis and has been homebound for several years.
"Jakie was always full of energy," Cher Park said. "He never had a bad day."
A year ago, the family traveled to Australia as part of their older son's Make-A-Wish celebration. All Jacob wanted to do was go to the beach, Robert Park said.
And when the family visited the redwood forest this spring, they had to get a hotel on the beach for Jacob.
"He would go straight out of the hotel to the beach looking for starfishes and little crabs," Robert Park said.
He said he and his son, who loved to fish and bowl, went camping three weeks ago. They spent one night gazing into the stars and Jacob "knew every constellation. It was touching to listen to him."
Jacob is survived by his parents and siblings Brooke Adams, 24; Arial Park, 21; Cobren Park, 19; Alexandar Park, 18; and Jordan Park, 16. He has a niece, Riley Adams, 10 months old.
A viewing is set for Friday evening at the Russon Brothers Mortuary, 295 N. Main St., Bountiful, Robert Park said. A time had not been set as of Monday afternoon.
The funeral for Jacob is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Centerville North LDS Stake Center, 1450 N. Main St.
Editor's note: Standard- Examiner reporter Loretta Park is not related to Robert and Cher Park.
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