by Brent Frazier
Grundy County, TENN. - Not only will Wes and Wanda Keener be burying two of their four children this week, the couple will always live with helplessly watching the accident unfold in front of them.
"A lady in the car came down the highway, and she hit them on Calvin's side," recalled Wes Keener, 34. "She was running way too fast for what the speed limit was on the road!"
The early afternoon collision, between the two brothers' go-kart and an approaching family sedan, played out on Northcutts Cove Road, roughly three miles outside of Altamont.
THP is investigating the crash, but has so far filed no charges against the 30-year-old other driver.
Brothers Calvin Keener, 4, and Nicholas Keener, 11, had decided two weeks prior to pool their money together and buy the second-hand go-kart: an investment their parents signed-off on.
"They'd been good boys, and they don't ask for much," shared Wanda Keener, 30. "And that's what we got them. We thought they deserved it."
As potentially dangerous as such a motor vehicle is for two young boys, the Keeners insist they stressed strict safety guidelines their sons followed to the letter: the go-kart was not to leave the family property, and never travel onto the roadway in front of their house; plus, the boys were always buckled up; and Wes and Wanda say they insisted on a go-kart with a protective, overheard bar in the event of a rollover crash.
As shocked and hurt as the Keeners are, they take comfort in knowing the two boys did not suffer.
"Honest to God, I truly believe that they didn't know what happened," said their father.
The family said visitation and funeral arrangements for both boys are complete.
Visitation will be held on Monday; burial will be on Tuesday, and the Keeners said brothers Nicholas and Calvin will share the same coffin, since they were virtually inseparable in life.
The family is struggling, financially, given that West Keener is a welder and Wanda Keener a stay-at-home-Mom. The family is efforting an official memorial fund in the two boys' names through a local bank or church.
