WALTHAM, Mass — Moments before the tragic scene unfolded on Totten Pond Road in Waltham, Johana Rodriguez had arrived home greeting the National Grid workers and a police officer working a detail in front of her home.
“The workers said do you want us to move and if I said No I’m ok,” said Johana Rodriguez of Waltham.
She headed inside and minutes later heard horrible screams and a loud crash.
[ Waltham officer killed in crash was ‘amazing’ husband, dad who ‘served with distinction,’ chief says ]
“I sat down in my living room and I heard a scream, screams and I also heard like a big bang,” she said.
Rodriguez ran outside where a National Grid worker told her to call for help.
“I was calling 911 but then I saw Mr. Jackson on the ground.”
Seeing Roderick Jackson on the ground in the devastating aftermath was hard for Rodriguez. She says she hardly spoke until 11 Thursday morning when a car pulled up. Inside was Norma Asprilla, who is the mother of now-deceased Roderick Jackson.
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“She didn’t tell me it was his mother we just hugged. But I realized and she realized it. And we went to the place and we stopped and I explained to her where he was. And she was devastated obviously.”
The two instantly bonded as mothers and culturally as Latin women and then they began to pray together.
“We prayed. I asked if she was ok, and we hugged and she told me she wanted to pray as well,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez believes the prayers helped Jackson’s mother and says they helped her too. She added that their chance meeting and instant connection seemed to lift the weight of this tragic crash for both of them.
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