Kentucky Referee News

November 20, 2006

Radcliff Referee Dies in Crash due to NO SEATBELT

Daniel ‘Boone’ Justin Redmon

Daniel “Boone” Justin Redmon, 17, of Radcliff, died Monday, Nov. 20, 2006, at University Hospital following an auto accident in Hardin County.

He was a senior at North Hardin High School and a USSF referee.

Survivors include his parents, Regina and John Hennequant and Ronald and Stephanie Redmon; a brother, Jesse James Redmon; a stepsister, Candice Hennequant; a stepbrother, Raban Hennequant; and his grandparents, Don and Lois Harp, Noreen Bartheidel, Richard and Shirley Scott, Aldon and Diane Hennequant and Jo Ann Harris.

The funeral was at noon Saturday at Evergreen Funeral Home in Louisville with burial in Evergreen Cemetery.

 

THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE
November 22, 2006

Mother says no seat belt cost her son’s life

RADCLIFF — If he had fastened his seat belt, those who knew Daniel “Boone” Redmon wouldn’t have filled conference rooms at University Hospital in Louisville. His friends wouldn’t have spread a sheet with his name on it over his parking spot at North Hardin High School, and they wouldn’t be printing memorial T-shirts.

Redmon, a senior at North Hardin High School, died Monday night at University Hospital after suffering injuries in a car wreck Sunday.

If he had fastened his seat belt, he’d be alive, said Redmon’s mother, Regina Hennequant. She hopes her son’s death sends a message to others about the importance of buckling up.


“Because he didn’t take the five seconds it takes to snap a seat belt, he lost his life, and I lost my baby,” Hennequant said. “Boone was an awesome kid, and because he lost his judgment for five seconds, he’s gone.”

Redmon, 17, was driving toward Vine Grove on Deckard School Road when he lost control of his Mitsubishi Eclipse, ran off the road, through a ditch and into a wooden fence, Vine Grove Police Chief Dale Riggs said. The single-car wreck happened just outside Vine Grove city limits at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday.

Not wearing a seat belt was the “contributing factor” to Redmon’s death, Riggs said.


His main injury, Hennequant said, was to his head and was caused when the force of the collision threw him across the car and into the passenger side door.


Redmon touched many lives, his mother said, and in his death, he continued to give to others as his organs were donated.

“Sometime today, someone had sight for the first time in their life, someone got a new heart and many, many more were helped by Boone even in his death,” she said Tuesday evening.

Redmon was a solid student, a good friend and a soccer enthusiast and United States Soccer Federation referee, those who knew him said.

“I really truly believe there is not one person out there who could say anything bad about Boone,” said teacher Patty Lirot, who had Redmon in accounting classes during his sophomore and junior years.

In the classroom, he was prepared, took initiative and wanted a challenge, Lirot said. He was a natural at accounting and planned to make it his major in college, she added.

“He was just one of those great kids,” said North Hardin Principal Bill Dennison, who saw Redmon on a daily basis because he was an aide in the school office.

Redmon was pleasant, made good grades and had a great group of friends, Dennison said.

Don Phillips, also a senior at North Hardin, met Redmon through rec soccer about seven years ago, and the two became close friends.

“He’s really been like a brother I’ve never had,” Phillips said.

He remembered a pep rally this year where friends wore T-shirts spelling out “Class of 07.” Redmon was the “0” and Phillips was the “7.”

Now, Redmon’s friends are printing T-shirts with his photo in his memory.

The pair had much to look forward to as seniors, Phillips said. Phillips took Redmon to Ohio for a few weeks when he went to visit his family, but they were eager to take a real road trip. They thought they might get an apartment together after graduation, too.

Redmon was outgoing, caring and the guy to go to if you needed a laugh, Phillips said.

Most of all, he’ll remember his friend’s laugh because it meant he was happy.

“If he was happy, I was happy, you know,” he said.

Redmon’s funeral is Saturday at Evergreen Funeral Home in Louisville.

PLEASE WEAR YOUR SEATBELT EVERYWHERE YOU GO!