In June of 2018 college baseball star Zach Attianese and his father were killed in a six-vehicle car crash in Michigan. On Friday a Detroit jury awarded the family $96 million according to reports.
Attianese, 20, was a star pitcher in high school in New Jersey and was transferring to Florida State University, to showcase his stuff at the ACC level.
Highway Accident In Michigan
The crash that killed Attianese and his father, Jude, involved a semitractor-trailer in a construction zone on Interstate 75.
The attorney for the Attianese family, Brian McKeen, told The Associated Press there was evidence that the truck driver was careless and had health conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, that should have restricted his driving.
“It turns out that he was on three medications for Parkinson’s disease, each of which contain warnings of the dangers of falling asleep while driving, sleep attacks and reports of fatalities and injuries in people operating heavy equipment,” McKeen said.
Zach’s mother and Jude’s widow Natalia Attianese understandably is still devastated by the loss of her son and husband.
“There is no greater loss than losing your child and let alone my husband,” Natalie said. “It is excruciatingly painful. It is something that my daughters have to deal with for the rest of our lives.”
Driver And Company Found Negligent In The Deaths
As part of the judgment that awarded the Attianese family $96 million, the jury found Canada-based Challenger Motor Freight Inc. and its driver negligent in the deaths of Zach and Jude.
“The challenger safety director testified that there wasn’t one person at that company — which employs 900 to 1,000 across the United States — that ever looked into the fitness of a single driver,” McKeen said.
It’s pretty easy to see how a jury would find the company negligent.
McKeen said Challenger Motor Freight will file an appeal and the company confirmed same in statement noting the “seriousness of the tragic accident” and offering condolences.
“We believe the verdict to be highly excessive for a number of reasons, and any appeal will detail those,” attorney Brian Del Gatto said.
Natalie was asked by Detroit 7 if the verdict lightened the burden she’s feeling over the death of her husband and son.
“A lot in that sense but heavier because Zach and Jude aren’t here and they never will be and I just miss them terribly,” she said. “I look for signs, something that shows me they are around us and I do get a lot of those.”
This is a heartbreaking tragedy for Natalie and her daughters. Losing husband/father and a son/brother in one instance is a lot for the human psyche to handle and process.
The judgment as Natalie said gives some sense of ease and there is an element of closure but what survivors want more than anything is for the deceased to be alive again. Nothing can reverse course and make that happen. The finality of death is a painful part of life. It is the absence of hope.
Zach was a left-handed pitcher who in the days leading up to his death was speaking with scouts from Major League Baseball teams.