(RNS) — Theologians, preachers and best-selling authors have long tried to explain why bad things happen to good people. But there’s a second question that doesn’t get as much attention.
What happens when a good person does something that seems unforgivable? That’s the question Tom King’s family faced on an early morning last fall as King was dying in a hospital room in Akron, Ohio, after he was hit on his motorcycle by a pickup truck.
Would they respond in anger? Or with mercy?
A few hours earlier on Nov. 8, 2024, King, a 72-year-old Navy veteran and retiree, had driven off on his beloved motorcycle from a Salvation Army food pantry where he volunteered five days a week. Driving through downtown Akron, he was struck by a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup that ran a stop sign.
The truck driver was Brandon Wellert, a 25-year-old surveyor’s assistant and father of two, who was on his way home from a job site. Wellert was driving down an unfamiliar street when he missed a stop sign. By the time he saw King’s motorcycle, it was too late. His truck collided with King, who suffered a serious head injury and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Doctors told King’s family he would not recover. It was just a matter of time before his heart gave out. At that moment, the family’s thoughts turned to the young man who was to blame. They believe King — who had become a kind, soft-hearted man as he grew older — would want to make sure Wellert was OK.
So, the family, who are Christians, began to pray.
“Tom forgave that young man before he hit the curb,” Rick King, Tom’s younger brother, said.
In the following months, King’s family pressed law enforcement officials to show mercy to Wellert. They showed up in court to advocate on his behalf.
“My view was that this young man already had a life sentence because he’s got to process this for the rest of his life,” Rick King said.
On the night of the crash, Christy Boulton, Wellert’s mother, was praying as well. She got a call from her ex-husband letting her know about the accident. Boulton said she prayed for King’s recovery — part out of concern for him, part out of worry for her son.
“All that night we prayed he’d be OK,” said Boulton, who grew up Baptist and now identifies as a non-denominational Christian.
