Thursday, December 8, 2005 - Today it became obvious to the personnel aboard Nassau West Two that traffic is a killer. Death introduced itself to at least two travelers along Interstate 10 today in the presence of Nassau West Sheriff Kelly Bartram.

On the way to his primary job in Tucson at a local trucking company, the Sheriff, accompanied by his sister, Ambassador Amanda Bartram, who also works in Tucson, witnessed the aftermath of a horrendous accident at mile marker 289, just west of the Marsh Station Road Bridge.

While approaching the bridge, Bartram noticed that there were several emergency vehicles blocking the oncoming lanes (eastbound) on the other side of the median wall. Then, he was shocked to discover that the traffic had been blocked so a medical helicopter could land on the freeway.

After resuming his train of thought after adjusting to the fact that there was a chopper on the highway, he noticed why they were there. A very large tractor trailer had rolled onto its side. Either the driver was asleep at the wheel, which has become rather common recently, or the driver had another sort of medical or mechanical emergency that caused the crash.

While tuned in to the radio, there were reports on the news that the vehicle had lost a tire and bounced off the wall. The driver, while trying to regain control possibly overcorrected and caused the vehicle to tip over. The eastbound lanes of I-10 were closed for several hours this morning as a result of this accident.

With all that excitement behind, Bartram arrived at the usual time at work. Shortly after arriving, he noticed a hummingbird flying around in the warehouse. This same bird was in the warehouse the previous evening, and apparently had stayed overnight in the building.

Moments after spotting the bird, the hummingbird crashed into the concrete warehouse floor and remained motionless. Bartram rushed to the scene to administer aid. The bird had probably been up all night and morning flying all over trying to escape the building, ran out of energy, and crashed.

The bird was brought into the office, where it was a bit warmer, and given a dish of sugar water. As the day wore on the animal's condition started noticeably deteriorating. By the work day's end, the bird was nearly comatose, and for the most part unresponsive to stimuli.

Sheriff Bartram called in the situation to the Nassau West Medical Center, which usually does not handle incidents like this, and got permission to bring in the injured hummingbird. The bird was airlifted to the Nassau West Medical Center at the Capitol, but died en route.

The animal was declared DOA, or dead on arrival. The Sheriff and his sister were both saddened by the bird's passing, as were the two Junior Ambassadors, Erin and Ryan Bartram. A private memorial and burial ceremony is planned for tomorrow morning at 8:30 at the Nassau West Capitol's west lawn.