I thought baseball would give me that language." When she asked her son why he had suddenly developed a fascination with baseball-never having shown the slightest interest in sports-Teddy answered, "I really wanted to find a way to be closer to Dad. Susan shares a poignant story that reveals the maturity Teddy had acquired at such a young age. And then people will say to you, 'What are you doing for you? Now I know you've taken care of your kids and your husband and your life, but what are you doing for Susan?' You know, that isn't even in the nature of a mother." It's exhausting sometimes, actually in the early months, because you are trying to make everybody feel better. "All I could think, 'People are going to be so sad for me,'" Susan says. In fact, within days of losing Teddy, Susan sat down with NBC's Tim Russert to talk about the tragic accident and thank people for their outpouring of support. Susan says that she always thought if she lost a child, she would "sit down in a chair and never talk again." But, now she says, it just doesn't work that way. He's gone.' Even though I had held out hope." I said to somebody later, 'Why would I do that? Why wouldn't I go back to the crash and look for Teddy?' And they said, 'Because instinct is to follow the living-to go with the living.' And the minute I saw Dick he said, 'Teddy's gone. Even though the crash site was near the hospital, Susan says she didn't stay to look for Teddy. When Susan arrived at the small hospital where Dick and Charlie were being treated, doctors told her they would have to be transferred to a larger hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado. I got dad, but I can't find Ted, and I need you to help.' She was an hour away, and I remember thinking as I made the phone call, she's going to drive for an hour not knowing anything else but these three sentences I just told her." "She was in the mountains, and I said, 'Mom, you've got to come back. "What will be the worst moment in my entire life-I don't care what else happens-I had my cell phone on me, and I had to call my mom," Charlie says. The worst moment, Charlie remembers, came minutes after the plane exploded. "It wasn't until they found Teddy's body did know that he had done everything he possibly could do," Dick says. "Every time you close your eyes in the day, every time you start your car, every time you get out of bed.it's still there," Charlie says through tears.īefore they found Teddy's body, Dick says Charlie "lived through hell" thinking he hadn't found his little brother inside the plane. "He didn't say it in a way that he was petrified-he just wanted to pass it on to me to solve it."Ĭharlie says he still remembers every moment of the crash and its aftermath. Teddy and the two crew members who were also killed had been thrown from the plane on impact.ĭick remembers Teddy's last words very clearly. Two days later, rescue crews found Teddy's body beneath the plane. Charlie also tried to find his little brother, but before he could, the plane exploded. He spotted a tuft of his father's white hair sticking out from beneath a pile of rubble, dug him out and pulled him to safety. Dick says their plane hit the ground at more than 100 miles an hour and then slid to a stop at the edge of a 60-foot cliff.Ĭharlie sprung into action as soon as the jet stopped moving. Moments after takeoff, the plane carrying Dick, Charlie and Teddy came crashing down. The rest of the family would be heading east. The plane landed at a small Colorado airport, where they dropped off Susan. Susan, Dick, and their sons, Charlie and Teddy, boarded a private jet in California.
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