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All worries, no sleep

Early edition: In September 2003, Edward Tippie was driving an 18-wheeler when a suicidal father pulled out in front of him, killing himself and a child. Three years later, Tippie’s life is still reeling from the shock.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published November 14, 2006

The SUV came out of nowhere.

Trucker Edward Tippie was eastbound on Interstate-4 on Sept. 15, 2003, when a suicidal motorist veered into his path. The motorist, Bryan Randall, died. So did his son. Randall had already drowned his toddler daughter and tried to drown another son.

The crash was no accident, Randall’s insurance company later decided. There would be no money, no help for the traumatized Tampa trucker who would lose his job and struggle to keep his already cash-strapped family united.

And so, that morning on the highway, Randall not only destroyed his own family; he made victims of a family he never knew.

Armor breached

Edward Tippie was the “rottenest kid” Tania Landers ever met. And if you ask Edward Tippie, Landers was a snotty little brat.

That the two ended up married and cash-strapped, three kids between them and three more in their care, is a story of sloppy, hardworking, terror-filled love.

“My husband is the kind of person, he’s always been 10 feet tall and bulletproof,” says Tania, 36, who married 16 years ago in a small, outdoor ceremony.

But that September day in 2003, Tippie’s armor failed.

As he stood at the scene of the accident for seven and a half hours, he felt a sense of guilt, though he had done no wrong. Rescue workers tried to pry Randall and his children from twisted, hot metal, and to make sense of the crash.

Tippie himself was so numb he didn’t notice the back pain from five herniated disks.

When he went home to Tania and two of their children at a two-bedroom trailer in Thonotosassa that night, Tippie acted like someone Tania never met. All she could do was hold him.

“A little baby in your arms, shaking so bad, so hard,” she said, remembering Tippie. “It just broke him.”

All worries, no sleep

Tippie spent eight months out of work, trying to figure out how to get back into a car, back into the front seat, back behind the wheel. Even riding, he would slump down in the seat or pull his ball cap down over his eyes.

The day after the crash, Tippie’s boss at a trucking company asked if he was ready to go back to work. No, he answered. So, the boss took his keys and ended his employment.

Sleep was rare between bad dreams and restlessness. One nightmare had him shaking the bed so hard, the frame broke.

At the same time, he felt the need to find time for his son, Brandon, now 13. Born with cerebral palsy, the boy was due for surgery just days after the accident and his medical needs continue.

Today, the family’s struggles have compounded. Between lost wages and medical bills, Tania says the crash cost them at least $75,000.

Progressive Auto Insurance Co. and a jury both denied Tippie’s claim. Intentional acts were not covered under Randall’s policy, Progressive spokeswoman Kathy Bell said.

In Tippie’s view, that’s the stance of a heartless corporation.

Bell said she sympathizes. “We know that he’s an innocent person brought into this situation,” she said, “but at the end of the day, from a business perspective, we have to make sure insurance costs are kept down for all of our drivers.”

Special needs kids

When Tippie finally returned to work, it was back to a truck. As a driver for Stepp’s Towing, he gets paid to clear mangled cars from crash sites.

Tippie, 42, who prefers to be called by his last name, has blue eyes that droop at the corners. His red, creased face show the signs of hours spent in the sun. He doesn’t want to know the details of the crashes.

“The crashes, I just block them out,” he said. “I do what I have to do. I don’t ask what happened. I don’t want to know the details. I don’t need to know whose fault it is. I’m just there for one reason and that’s to clear the road and go.”

Two years ago, the Tippies took custody of three nephews from Tania’s sister after the state determined she couldn’t raise them. “I’d rather live in a cardboard box and raise them than let them be separated in foster care,” Tippie said.

The Tippie family became larger than ever, but too poor to find one place to fit all of them together.

Among the five children who now live with them, three are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and two have cerebral palsy. A sixth-child, the Tippies’ first-born daughter, 15-year-old Ashley, has Turner’s syndrome, a chromosome abnormality affecting girls. Though she spends a great deal of time with Tania and Tippie, she has lived with an aunt since she was little.

In September, shortly after the jury issued its verdict, the Tippies were evicted from a four-bedroom Tampa home for failing to make the $1,100 rent two months in a row.

They had always had financial struggles. In August, Tania was charged with welfare fraud. She says she didn’t realize she had eligibility problems. She’s fighting the charge.

Now, the family is split up over two households.

Tania and three children live in a duplex near the Orient Road Jail. The $600 per month rent is flexible because it’s owned by a forgiving family friend.

Laundry piles up on the kitchen table, filling two overflowing baskets. Dishes are stacked inside the small kitchen sink. There’s a small clothes washer that hooks to the faucet.

Tania hauls clothes and kids from the place where Tippie lives with two of the boys, driving a 1997 Dodge Caravan. 

Tippie’s  two-bedroom trailer is 20 minutes away in Thonotosassa. He pays $175 per week.

When he’s off work and the family is together, they like to go fishing. It’s free. When they aren’t together, the kids look forward to stopping at Stepp’s after school to see their dad.

Hoping to help

There’s an angel in the Tippies’ lives now. At least, that’s what Tania calls John D. Smith.

Smith, president of StormStoppers in Orlando, read about the Tippie’s lives in the Orlando Sentinel just after the jury verdict. He and Ellen Tatich of Westgate Resorts in Orlando have taken it upon themselves to reunite the Tippie family.

The businesses are hosting a benefit this Sunday in Orlando at Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa from 3 to 6 p.m. and they plan to treat the children to their first theme park experiences: Sea World and Universal Studios. They’ve also created a Web site to help get the word out.

Smith and Tatich want to find and furnish a four-bedroom, two-bath house for the family, paying their rent and household bills a year in advance.

They’ve already taken the family’s minivan into the shop to fix the air conditioner. But they really would like to give them a new car.

Tippie appreciates the help. He really wants stability for his children. Stability, and something even more basic:
“To be able to sit home and not be tired,” he said. “I wouldn’t know how to do it.”

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at (813) 226-3383 or rcatalanello@sptimes.com.

 For more information about helping the Tippies, visit www.reunitethetippiefamily.com, call (407) 423-5959 or email info@reunitethetippiefamily.com.

[Last modified November 14, 2006, 22:06:28]