17-year-old recovering from crash

Shaun Van Kam doesn't remember the morning of Oct. 6, 2023. He doesn't remember much of what happened in the days before or the weeks after, either.

There was a thick, heavy fog that Friday morning in early autumn and Shaun, who lives in the community of Doddridge in Miller County, was running a little late for classes at Fouke High School. After stopping at a stop sign, he pulled out onto U.S. 71. He didn't see the 18-wheeler loaded with gravel that was barreling toward him and slammed into the passenger side of his pickup.

Shaun's mom, Summer, is a nurse at North Caddo Medical Center in Vivian, La., about a half-hour away. Not long after arriving at work that morning, her phone rang.