Letter to president from father who lost a child

Kim Se-rim, 3, was killed by a nursery school bus on March 26 in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Her father Kim Yeong-cheol sent The Dong-A Ilbo his letter to President Park Geun-hye asking for legislation of Serimi Act, a bill named after Se-rim, to prevent the tragedy he and his family experienced from happening again.

Dear President Park Geun-hye,

Until recently I was living an average life of a husband and a father of a three-year-old girl and expecting my second child to be born. On March 26, I left for work hearing my little daughter saying, “Have a good day, daddy!” But just after an hour, my wife called me and desperately said, “Come to the Chungbuk University Hospital! Hurry!” I ran to the hospital and saw my little girl lying on a bed without moving at all. A doctor told me, “She’s dead.” I could not believe the doctor’s words because her small body was still warm. I felt like the sky was falling upon me. My wife lost our unborn baby due to the shock of losing our first child. Our hearts broke in peaces after losing two children. This tragedy would not have happened if adults had paid due attention or fulfilled their basic duties.

After losing my daughter, I came to know how poorly nursery school buses are operated, and how often school bus-related accidents happen. I found out that a bill on nursery school vehicles has not even been presented to the Parliament. (A bill for partial revision of the Road Traffic Act, also called Serimi Act, has been selected as the "Bill of This Month" by the April issue of the National Assembly Journal. The bill was proposed by Rep. Jeong Woo-taek of the ruling Saenuri Party and presented to the National Assembly Standing committee on March 28.)

Dear President, please help prevent this kind of tragedy from happening in this country again. Please help parents not to worry about the safety of their children going to nursery school. Each breath I take or each meal I eat brings the memory of my lost child. Please help the death of my daughter not to be wasted.

April 9, 2013, Se-rim’s father

straw825@donga.com