BUCKLE UP
NORTH DAKOTA
Every Trip. Every Time.
viral was enough to bring Tad and Jona to tears.
They knew they were onto something big. It’s still
enough to make them break down in tears of joy,
though they admit they sometimes get worried
they won’t be able to keep up with the demand
for the hugs.
In the 11 months that have ticked by since
Alexa died, the Johnsons have handmade nearly
3,400 ribbons. More than 1,000 of those have
gone to students across schools in the Thompson
Valley School District, and thousands of others
have gone out to people around the country. “We
are learning about the power of social media by
doing what we’re doing. We know how necessary
it is. Everything is so quick now,” Tad said with the
snap of a finger.
___
Tad Johnson is walking along the dark highway
that is illuminated only by passing headlights, and
he asks himself “what am I doing here?” Then,
he realizes what’s about to happen. He watches
his daughter’s entire crash unfold in front of him,
but he’s unable to catch her. He wakes up from
the recurring nightmare, screaming. That helpless
feeling is one that he can’t shake, but with the
reach of Alexa’s Hugs, he knows he might be able
to prevent other parents from experiencing their
own personal nightmare or at least help them
through it.
Since then they’ve continued to push their
message of seat belt awareness and have taken
on a new campaign in schools - a program they
hope to bring into Weld County schools that
includes a public speaking push and contest
among schools to increase their own seat belt use
and even create a public service announcement
addressing the issue. “They will be sharing messages with their other school mates about not just
seat belts but vehicle safety,” Jona said from the
same table where she spends a huge chunk of the
day working with the soon-to-be fully-licensed
nonprofit. “That student-to-student and peerto-peer messaging is so important. They all use
the social media. They could give us lessons.” It’s
part of their continued march toward their goal
of dropping accident rates across northern Colorado. It’s a very possible goal, they say, pointing
to the promise of peer-to-peer connections. The
kids have to want the changes. In a lot of ways,
social media is the perfect way to bridge that gap.
Despite the couple’s runaway success with Alexa’s
Hugs, they still suffer. In the days following the
crash, Tad came close to ripping the doorbell out
of the wall. The sound was too much of a trigger
of that night in February when the trooper stood
at the doorstep. They’ve since disconnected it
and placed a piece of tap over the outside button.
Digging through boxes of Christmas decorations
was difficult, especially when they came across
the hand-made ornaments they painted as a
family. To this day, Jona