Courier Post - February 24, 2012

Victim's sister on a crusade to save lives

WASHINGTON TWP. — Eight sessions. 800 sophomores. A schedule that started before 8 a.m.

It was all in a day’s work for Angela Donato, whose new reality includes public speaking in memory of her big sister. Toni Bolis — nine months pregnant with her second child — was killed June 1 when a driver who admitted being distracted collided with her truck on Pitman-Downer Road in Washington Township. The 28-year-old and her unborn baby boy were killed.
Angela and her sister, Annette, almost immediately became crusaders against texting and driving. So 22-year-old Angela was at the township high school Friday for sessions that began at 7:35 a.m.
At 10:45 a.m., the graduate student was about to start her fifth talk to sophomores who are currently learning about crucial decision-making.
“I believe in my heart my daughter Toni is giving her (Angela) the strength to do this,” said Toni’s mother, Mary Donato, her neck draped with a locket photo of her lost daughter. “If she were here, she would make this a crusade.”
“I’ve heard it four times now and phew …” health teacher Matt Groark said of the presentation as he vigorously shook his head. “It gets you every time.”
Groark organized the day’s program after meeting Angela and her family five months ago. Students and faculty all wore green T-shirts in honor of Toni; it was her favorite color.
After a brief AT&T video on the dangers of texting and driving, Angela told each group about what she calls her own “last day” of normalcy, May 31, when she, her mother and Annette accompanied Toni to her final ultrasound appointment. She stood next to a poster board of photos showing a vivid, vivacious Toni, the married mother of a 2-year-old girl.
Angela told the students how 21-year-old Daniel Pereira’s car crossed into Toni’s lane that night and struck her truck. She recalled how family members rushed from their nearby township homes and got to the scene before the police. She recalled how Toni’s left arm and head hung out the driver’s side window and how Pereira — sitting nearby — told the Donatos he was distracted by his cellphone.
“They worked on her on the side of the road for what seemed like forever,” recalled Angela, her voice never breaking.
Pereira, of Glassboro , has not been charged but an investigation into the accident is ongoing, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
Angela said her sister and nephew likely died on impact. Toni and 8-pound, 2-ounce Ryan Jeffrey — now known as RJ — lay in the same casket at a funeral that drew more than 4,000 people. The baby was in his mother’s arms, dressed in his christening outfit.
“I don’t want this to be you,” Angela told the students. “I don’t want your parents to get that call.”
She recalled how she and her sisters once sat in the same high school and heard about the dangers of drinking and driving. Then she noted that while such deaths are down, accidents attributed to distracted driving have increased.
According to a 2009 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,474 people were killed nationally in crashes that involved distracted driving. Of those deaths, 995 involved cellphone use. Meanwhile, NHTSA research shows alcohol-related fatalities have fallen 25 percent since 1990.
“Put the phone down,” Angela said, as a cell rang in the background, ironic proof of the insistent technology Donato is up against. The New York Times reported in December the average American teen sends or receives 75 text messages a day.
Brittanie Yanzuk of Haddon Township is a friend of Angela’s who manned a table Friday where students could buy green ribbons and donate to the foundation named for Bolis and her son. One sophomore, she said, dropped $65 into the donation box.
“Hopefully, they’ll take into consideration how they can lose their lives,” said Yanzuk, whose own sister was killed in a drinking-and-driving accident.
“I think this has had an effect on quite a few of them,” health teacher Barbara McBrearty remarked as students quietly left the gym in a stream of green.
“These kids think they’re invincible.”

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Toni Donato Bolis video - June 7, 2011

Courier Post online video - February 24, 2012

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Gloucester County Times - February 24, 2012

Toni Bolis' sister speaks to Washington Township High School sophmores about dangers of distracted driving

WASHINGTON TWP. — Two days. Toni Donato-Bolis was due to deliver her second child in just two days when, driving home from her last doctor’s appointment, her car was hit head-on on Pitman-Downer Road. The other driver swerved into her lane when he was allegedly distracted by his GPS.

Just a mile from her home, Donato-Bolis was killed, along with her unborn baby. A son, to be named Ryan Jeffrey, or R.J.
The June 1, 2011 accident changed her family’s life forever.
Now Angela Donato, Donato-Bolis’ 22-year-old sister, is on a mission to save other families from the same horror she felt that day.
She spoke to group after group of Washington Township High School sophomores all day Friday, warning them about the serious danger in driving while distracted.
Students filed into the 9/10 auxiliary gym, many wearing the green T-shirts sold in memory of Donato-Bolis.
With an image of a cell phone crossed out on the front, the shirt’s message read loud and clear.
So did Donato-Bolis’. The Washington Township High School graduate, Cabrini College graduate student and aspiring teacher introduced herself, and her story. Before delving further, she showed them a 10-minute video, produced by AT&T, on the senseless deaths and lingering remorse caused by texting while driving.
Then, in a moment that drew more than a few tears from the audience, Donato recalled the details of the crash play-by-play, and the moments that she’ll never forget.
At 8:23 a.m., Donato’s mother, Mary, got a frantic call from Donato-Bolis. She said she was on Pitman-Downer Road and was just involved in a serious accident. As soon as the line went dead, Donato and her family rushed to help her. Less than a mile from the scene, the family was the first to arrive.
Before police or paramedics got to the scene, Donato approached her sister’s car, finding the driver’s side door “completely smashed.” She saw her sister’s head and arm leaning out of her window. She was unconscious, and Donato feared the worst.
“Her lips were blue. I knew she was gone,” Donato told the students. Concerned about the other vehicle involved in the crash, Donato searched for the driver. She found him, 21-year-old Daniel Pereira of Glassboro, sitting on the grass by the curb, holding his phone horizontally and texting.
She said she couldn’t believe what she saw. He wasn’t checking to see how Donato-Bolis was, he wasn’t calling emergency services, he was texting. Donato said he told her that he was using his GPS when he crashed.
She stopped there, telling students that nine months later, the accident is still being investigated. No charges have been filed yet.
After the crash, Donato-Bolis’ family filled a hospital waiting room. It was there they learned that her baby—a boy, eight pounds and two-ounces—did not survive.
“For three to five minutes there was screaming, crying, banging hands against the wall,” Donato said. Soon after, they were told that with six shattered vertebrae and massive bleeding. Donato-Bolis would also not survive.
“It was like I got stabbed in the stomach,” Donato said. “We knew our lives would never be the same.”
But she stressed that she wasn’t telling the students this story to scare, upset or worry them. Her only motive is to prevent another family from experiencing that pain.
“There are more than 3,000 deaths due to distracted driving each year. You can be the word, you can be the person to say ‘Let me text for you,’ or ‘I’ll change the radio station.’ You have to spread the word,” Donato said.
She asked each of the students to sign a pledge to not text and drive, and express their support for legislation that Donato is trying to push through the state Senate, which would make penalties for distracted driving the same as driving while intoxicated.
“Your word is so powerful,” Donato told the students.
In the few minutes before they returned to class, many of the students came up to hug Donato, make donations toward her cause and pick up a green bracelet to remind them to put the phone down and focus on the road.
“It was really touching and really inspirational,” sophomore Adelyn Simeone said. “It’s just that one thing that can grow into another thing and really make people stop and think about what they’re doing.”
And that’s all Donato needs to hear to keep going.
“If I can get one kid to listen, then I’m saving a life,” Donato said. Both her and her mother, Mary, speak of Donato-Bolis as an incredibly strong, giving woman who dedicated much of her life to helping others. Mary Donato said she couldn’t be more proud that her daughter was taking up this cause, and making sure that something positive will come from Donato-Bolis’ untimely death.
“[Donato’s] getting her strength and inspiration from Toni. She was an extremely strong woman,” Mary Donato said. And as Donato is getting her strength from the memory of her sister, Mary is getting her strength from Donato. She sat in the back of the room as her daughter presented her family’s heart-wrenching story.
“I will follow her wherever she goes. I’m behind her 100 percent, as long as she needs me,” she said. “This way, Toni’s not gone in vain. That’s how she’ll live on.”
If it wasn’t for her ambitious goals—Donato aims to take her presentation to schools up and down the East Coast—she doesn’t know how she would wake up in the morning. But by keeping her sister’s memory alive, and preventing other senseless deaths, she’s able to move forward with her life, without leaving her sister behind.
“It’s healing me. It’s getting me through,” Donato said. Which is something she says her altruistic, loving sister would have done if the tables were turned. “If it was the other way around, she would be doing this for me.”

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Gloucester County Times - March 3, 2012

Photo gallery: Toni Bolis' sister talks to students about dangers of distracted driving

Washington Township resident Toni Donato-Bolis and her unborn child, R.J., were killed in a car accident in June by an allegedly distracted-driver.

Since then, the family has been mourning their loss, but have also been trying to make others aware of the dangers of driving while distracted.

Angela Donato spoke to Washington Township High School sophomores recently, as well as students at Clearview Regional. View the photos of her presentation at Washington Township High School. 

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Gloucester County Times - July 3, 2011

Riversharks fundraiser will honor mother, unborn son, victims of distracted driving head-on crash

 

WASHINGTON TWP. — The Camden Riversharks will host a fundraiser in honor of Washington Township resident, Toni Bolis and her family.
Bolis, 29, and her unborn son were killed in a motor vehicle crash on June 1 in Washington Township. She left behind a three year-old daughter, Mia Rose Bolis.
Bolis was just days away from giving birth to her son Ryan Jeffrey Bolis. Toni was happily married.
According to police reports, Bolis was heading east on Pitman Downer road when she was hit head on by a car driven by an alleged distracted driver.
Dawn Marie Jardel met Bolis’ sister Angela Donato at her son’s school where Donato was a student teacher.
“I was shocked to hear about her sister’s accident,” said Jardel. “I felt so bad for her, her family and for her little niece who lost her mother at such a young age. No child should have to grow up without a parent.”
Jardel is organizing A Night at the Riversharks in memory of Bolis and baby Ryan Jeffrey Bolis. The goal of the event is to raise awareness of distracted driving and to raise money for the Mia Rose Bolis College Education Fund.
“I just wanted to do something to help,” she said.
Mia Bolis and her father, along with several other family members will be at the game, Jardel said. Mia will also be throwing out one of the first pitches in memory of her mother and baby brother.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is defined as, “any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.”
In 2009, nearly 5,500 people were killed in the U.S. in motorvehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. The under-20 age group had the highest proportion of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes.
Jardel hopes that the fundraiser will promote awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
“There will be a table set up with information about distracted driving to raise awareness. There will also be green ribbon pins for sale to raise additional money,” said said. Green was Bolis’s favorite color.
A Night at the Riversharks in Memory of Toni Bolis and Ryan Jeffrey Bolis will take place on Aug. 6 at 5:35 pm at Campbells field. Tickets are $11 and can be purchased at www.riversharks.com, with discount code “Bolis.” Of every ticket purchase, $5 will be donated to the Mia Rose Bolis College Fund.
“We hope that people who come to the event will hear her story and stop and think before they pick up their cell phone, text, or do anything else that will take their eyes off the road and become a distracted driver,” said Jardel.

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It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle - June 22, 2011

Courier Post Bike Run gallery

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WMMR Events - July 2011

First Annual Bike Run In Memory of Toni and Baby RJ Bolis

WHERE

· Leaving from rom BARB'S HARLEY DAVIDSON in West Collingswood, NJ

WHEN

· Sunday, July 10, 2011

TIME

· Ride will depart at NOON

with a memorial ride by The Bolis Family home in Washington Township. Continuing to and ending at GENO'S STEAKS in South Philadelphia. Joe Vento will provide live entertainment, a comedy show, and match every dollar raised to benefit Toni's 3 year old daughter, Mia Rose Bolis! Riders will receive a FREE green Doo-Rag in appreciate for riding! Please call or email with any questions: 267-716-1435 or NGVS4@aol.com

On June 1st, 2011, 9 month pregnant Toni Bolis of Washington Township was heading home after a long day at work. At approximately 8:26pm, just a half a mile from Toni’s home, a distracted driver on the opposite side of Pitman-Downer Road crossed over the double yellow line crashing head on into Toni’s SUV. Toni had become unconscious and was immediately rushed to Kennedy Hospital, where every attempt to was made to save Toni and her unborn child who was due to be delivered in a matter of days. To read more of Toni’s story go to: http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/family-raises-distracted-driving-awareness-060811

Anyone who is not able to attend this run, but wishes to make a contribution, please forward to Mia Rose Bolis College Education Fund, 4 Windy Acres Drive, Sewell, NJ 08080. 

 

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First Annual Toni Donato Bolis & Baby RJ Bike Run videos

Courier Post - July 9, 2011

Bike run to honor Glouco woman killed in crash

July 09, 2011|By George Anastasia, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Mary Donato talks about "the accident" but can't bring herself to utter the words that her husband, Charlie, offers with grim stoicism.
They are sitting in the kitchen of their Washington Township home talking about "the day our daughter was killed," Charlie Donato says.
Tears well in Mary Donato's eyes. "I still can't say those words," she says.
Toni Donato Bolis, 28, died June 1 after a head-on collision on Pitman-Downer Road less than a half-mile from her South Jersey home and, in the opposite direction, less than a half-mile from the home where her parents and two younger sisters live.
Bolis, a Web designer who lived with her husband, Eric, and their young daughter, Mia, was driving home from a doctor's appointment.
She was in the ninth month of a pregnancy, and her unborn son (she and her husband had selected the name Ryan Jeffrey) was also killed.
The accident is still under investigation, but police say a 21-year-old Glassboro man swerved into the opposite lane of the two-lane road and struck Bolis' car.
The Donatos say police told them that phone records indicate the man was using his cellphone at the time. Washington Township police could not be reached for comment.
Their daughter and their unborn grandson, they say, were the victims of modern technology, of a youth culture in which multitasking is a virtue and electronic communication a constant.
"I don't go on a computer," says Mary Donato. "I'm still in 1958. I like it there. But these kids . . ."
Sunday at noon, there will be a motorcycle run in memory of "Toni and Baby RJ Bolis." The event was organized by friends of Charlie Donato, a businessman who is a motorcycle enthusiast.
A poster touting the run includes a picture of Bolis holding her daughter, who will turn 3 in August. They are sitting on Charlie Donato's Harley.
"Look at that smile," Mary Donato says, pointing to the picture of her oldest daughter. Then she brings out a collage of photos, dozens affixed to several poster boards, photos of Bolis as a baby, as a child, a teenager, a grown woman.
"The smile never changes," her father says. "She was just a wonderful kid."
The purpose of the bike run is twofold: to raise money for a college fund for Mia, and to raise awareness about safe driving.
None of it will bring Bolis back, Mary Donato says, but maybe it will help another family avoid the unspeakable anguish that she, her husband, and their other daughters, Annette, 24, and Angela, 22, have been dealing with for the last 51/2 weeks.
Charlie Donato will be one of the riders in the bike run, which will begin at Barb's Harley-Davidson shop on the Black Horse Pike in West Collingswood Heights.
The riders will travel to Washington Township; past the scene of the accident; past Bolis' home, where her husband and daughter will be watching; and then over to South Philadelphia to Geno's Steaks.
Joey Vento, the owner of Geno's, is one of several individuals supporting the event.
"We'll drive past my daughter's home so that Mia can see all the bikes," Charlie Donato says. "My granddaughter loves to look at motorcycles."
The Donatos hope the bike run will become an annual event raising awareness of safe driving. They are depending on the justice system to deal with the man who caused their daughter's death.
They are searching for their own ways to deal with their loss.
"It's surreal," Charlie Donato says. "You hear about other people's tragedies . . ."
His voice trails off, and then he shakes his head.
"Every night I cry myself to sleep."

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100.3 WRNB online - June 8, 2011

Death of Mother & Unborn Child Rallys Awareness and Support

Last week I heard the heartbreaking story of a pregnant woman who was involved in a head on collision with a distracted driver. Sadly neither she nor her unborn child survived the accident. The woman, Toni Bolis, has a two year old daughter who will now grow up without her mom and will never meet her sibling. The family of Toni Bolis is grieving deeply and could use our support. Please consider making a donation to The MIA ROSE BOLIS COLLEGE EDUCATION FUND C/O THE BANK 308 EGG HARBOR ROAD SEWELL, NJ 08080. To find more info and send messages of support to the family visit their FaceBook Page.

This story makes me think of how many times I’ve been distracted by my ringing cell phone or the beeping alert of a new text message. I think of how people may feel pressure to text while driving because we’re late for something or we feel like master multi-taskers and can “handle both.” This sounds cliche but it really only takes ONE SECOND, one look away from the road, to change a life forever. If you’ve managed to text, dial, talk (with phone to ear), do hair, make-up or look at a GPS without incident, please don’t think that something horrible can’t happen. Please take the pre-digital aged approach to driving; if the person you need to talk to is not in the car (or on the speaker phone) the conversation can wait or just pull over to make the call. Please drive with safety in mind. Thanks to Danielle and Leah Oliveri for the information on the college fund for Mia Rose.

 Post by Tiffany Bacon in Tri-State > Philly Culture on Jun 9, 2011 at 11:08 pm

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Gloucester County Times - June 2, 2011

Washington Township woman, unborn child killed in crash

WASHINGTON TWP. — A 29-year-old woman and her unborn child were killed as the result of a motor vehicle crash here Wednesday night.
The crash occurred at about 8:29 p.m. on Pitman-Downer Road.
Daniel Pereira, 21, of Glassboro, was driving his 2011 Toyota Camry east on Pitman-Downer Road when it crossed over into the oncoming lane, police said. He hit a westbound 2005 Ford Escape driven by Toni Bolis, 29, of Argo Drive, said police.
Pereira was sent to Cooper Medical Center in Camden for treatment of internal injuries, police said.
Bolis, who was nine-months pregnant, had severe internal injuries and was taken to Kennedy University Hospital, where she and the unborn child died a short time later, said police.
According to a report on CBS 3, Bolis was in the middle of a handsfree phone call with her mother when she was hit. She urged her mother to come to the scene and was afraid she was going to lose the baby, a boy.
One of Bolis' sisters said she spoke to Pereira minutes after the crash and that he said he looked down at his GPS unit just before impact, according to the CBS 3 report.

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CBS news - June 2, 2011

Pregnant Mother, Unborn Baby Die After Gloucester County Car Accident

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) – Twenty-eight-year-old Toni Bolis of Washington Township was days away from delivering her second child, according to her sisters Annette and Angela Donato.
Sadly, the happily married mother of a two-year-old girl was killed in a crash in Washington Township Wednesday night. Doctors were unable to save her baby whose sex was going to be a surprise.
“He was a boy,” said Angela.
Police say Toni was headed east on Pitman Downer Road when 21-year-old Daniel Pereira of Glassboro, coming the opposite way, crossed lanes and crashed head on into Toni’s car. Toni’s sisters say she was on the phone hands free with her mother at the time of the crash and urged her to get to the scene.
“She was saying she was going to lose the baby,” said Angela.
Her sisters and mother arrived in minutes but Toni was unconscious. Angela says she talked to Pereira, the other driver, about the accident.
"He had told me he looked at his cell phone or GPS and he crashed," said Angela.
 The sisters say they are speaking out to warn other drivers of distraced driving, what they believe caused the crash. 
"Your hands should be on the wheel.  She would still be here, her baby boy, Ryan, could still be here," said Annette of her sister and soon-to-be nephew.
Police are recreating the accident and have not determined an official cause.  No charges have been filed.  Pereira is in stable condition.

Reported by Robin Rieger, CBS 3

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Fox29 Philadelphia - June 8, 2011

Family Raises Distracted Driving Awareness

A devastated family is trying to raise awareness about the consequences of distracted driving.
Last week a man they say was distracted hit their pregnant loved one head on in Gloucester County. Now both she and her baby are dead.
That family spoke to our Karen Hepp on Wednesday night.
Toni Bolis, 28, was nine months pregnant. At the joint funeral for her, and little Ryan Jeffrey, he looked like a doll in his christening outfit.
About 4,000 people came. This Friday, many of them will wear green, in Toni's memory and spread awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
Bolis the oldest of 3 girls, was the heart of her family. She was a beautiful bride, a wonderful friend, a loving wife, and a doting mother.
She was so excited to meet her 2nd child and he was due next week for father's day.
But, as she left her last doctor’s appointment last Wednesday, and was almost home, a driver crossed into her lane on Pitman Downer Road, and slammed into her head on, killing both her, and her little son.
When her sisters got to the scene, they say, the 21 year old diver told them he was on his GPS.
Right now, the prosecutors’ office, and police department are gathering records and investigating, but no charges have been filed.

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