This story was told by Shaundria Brown to Kyonda Trass in an interview. It has been lightly edited for length.
I was born and raised here on the south side of Richmond. As far back as I can remember we have lived on South 6th Street and Florida Ave. I attended King Elementary School, Portola Middle School and John F. Kennedy High School. After graduating, I went to a beauty school in Hilltop, and later graduated from a cosmetology apprenticeship program in Vacaville. I’ve been a hairdresser ever since. I currently work at a full-service hair salon in Fairfield, where I offer a broad range of braid styles. I’m also the mother to two girls, 17 and 23, and am a wife to my husband, Jeron Brown.
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This story is about our life after a motor vehicle accident, a hit-and-run, that almost claimed Jeron’s life and changed our family forever.
Prior to the accident, we had a pretty routine lifestyle. Jeron and I would alternate taking our daughters to school before heading into work; he’d take one and I’d take the other. As a family we liked to go to the movies, eat out at restaurants and watch high school basketball games.
Jeron was a talented musician. He played keyboard for several churches in the Bay Area and was also an amazing vocalist. The churches he played at included Peniel Missionary Baptist Church in El Sobrante, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church in Oakland, and the New Destiny churches in Pittsburg and Oakland. His aspiration was to become an R&B artist, with his favorite singer being Tank. Outside of supporting our daughters’ sports activities, that’s where most of his effort went. You could usually find him in his personal studio creating music.
On the night of the accident, March 30, 2019, I messaged Jeron but he didn’t answer. Around midnight, I woke up to a call saying that he’d been in an accident and was being airlifted to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, and that I needed to get there immediately. As per the police report, Jeron was at a two-way stop sign on 34th Street and Garvin Avenue — a residential neighborhood — when a speeding drunk driver t-boned his car and fled the scene on foot.
The car that collided with Jeron was apparently known by people in the neighborhood for speeding in the area. But the police never caught the guy that hit him. We were told they know who the person is, but they believe he ran off to Mexico. As of today, they haven’t arrested anyone for the hit-and-run.
Looking back, my initial reaction when I got woken up by the call was disbelief, that it was nothing. I actually laid back down. But one or two minutes later I jumped up, and went into complete panic mode. Upon arriving at the hospital I learned the severity of his injuries. He was in surgery for five hours. After the surgeries, he was in the ICU in a coma for a month and a half.
For the first two or three weeks, his mother and I stayed at a nearby hotel with the help of our community, and the children went to live with family members for about a month. We had so much support from family members and friends that I will be forever grateful.
Jeron had a rotation of several doctors checking on him daily. Two of them didn’t say much; just did their jobs and left. One doctor did more communicating and said Jeron would be like a vegetable and wouldn’t be able to live a normal life. They said Jeron had what is called “baby shaking syndrome,” and called for a family meeting regarding this. But my belief was stronger than anything they said, so I skipped that meeting. I was also just out of capacity for any more bad news.
Once Jeron was moved from the ICU to a recovery floor, the doctor who performed his surgery said Jeron was a living miracle, based on his condition upon arrival. That was a blessing and music to our ears to hear that coming from a doctor. After about a month, they took Jeron out of the ICU and moved him to a different floor. He was still in a coma but the doctors said he was recovering well and didn’t need to be there anymore, so that brought additional hope to everyone.
My experience during Jeron’s time in the coma changed day to day. After about two weeks straight you start to feel like, “Okay Jeron, just open your eyes and wake up.” But after those initial weeks, I started to lose hope. My experience was zombie-like; everything was a blur. With every new day, I didn’t know what to expect. New doctors would come in to evaluate Jeron’s condition early in the morning, for weeks straight. But I was hanging in there, being prayerful every single day.
As a family, we continued to talk to Jeron and show him love. I was told that’s what he needed most. We’re also a praying household and did a lot of that alongside our family and friends. Jeron’s church community hosted a big prayer event in his honor.
The night before he was to be moved to a long-term facility in San Jose, I stayed with him at the hospital. I was laying down in bed next to him, and all of a sudden, Jeron started moving. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Although his eyes were still closed, his arm was moving up and down. This was not expected to happen, according to the doctors. God be the glory — that’s all I could think at the time.
“It’s taken four to five years to rebuild. Being a caretaker is something I didn’t see on my bingo card, something I never saw coming.”
The next morning, he was moved to the living facility in San Jose, where he stayed from mid-May to November. For many months he still couldn’t talk due to a tracheotomy, but he was in physical therapy. After the tracheotomy was removed, Jeron slowly started speaking again. In November 2019, he was released back home to his family.
Today, Jeron continues to receive speech and physical therapy. He is now about 80% recovered and I attribute that to the power of prayer. Jeron is a living miracle. He is even back to playing keyboard a few times per week.
I was only able to move through this time because of prayers, prayers, and more prayers. Knowing my girls were looking to me for support also put me into overdrive. I had no time to be tired or to give up. I had to be strong for them, because I was all they had. Looking back, I was a mess. But I did the best I could.
My girls are my strength, and today they are both doing great. We couldn’t be more proud of them. Our oldest is in her senior year of college, majoring in psychology, and plans to get her masters. She’s the first person in our family to attend an HBCU. Our youngest is excited to be entering her senior year in high school.
As for myself, it’s taken four to five years to rebuild. Being a caretaker is something I didn’t see on my bingo card, something I never saw coming. It’s like taking care of two people at the same time; what you have to do for yourself, you have to remember to do the same for them, even when you are tired. Maintaining is a hard task at times.
But it can also be very rewarding. Jeron consistently tells me how grateful he is for the assistance. He reminds me of what a great job I’m doing. I’m not sure if it would be as rewarding if he didn’t say those things to reassure me I’m doing a good job. I feel like I’ve just come back to myself within this past year, back to accomplishing my life goals and living in the moment.
The advice I would give to anyone facing a similar situation is to be patient with yourself. Allow yourself some time to grieve while figuring your situation out. And if you notice reckless driving in your neighborhood, then report the car and get the city involved.
Experiencing traffic safety issues in Richmond?
The city of Richmond’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program exists to improve street safety in residential areas, by installing speed bumps, medians and crosswalks where they’re needed. Any resident can submit an application for a street improvement. Learn more.
For non-emergency traffic complaints, residents can call Richmond’s traffic unit at (510) 620-6693 or the police department’s non-emergency dispatch at (510) 233-1214. For emergencies, call 911.
