South Carolina husband recalls moment he learned his bride was dead
The South Carolina groom who lost his bride on their wedding night after an alleged drunken driver slammed into their golf cart tearfully recounted the moment he learned his new wife was dead.
"I remember waking up just kind of foggy, out of sorts," Aric Hutchinson, 36, told ABC's "Good Morning America" of opening his eyes in a hospital after the crash.
"I could see my mom's face, and you could just tell something was wrong, and I asked her, 'Where's Sam? Where's Sam?' And that's when she told me there was an incident, and Sam didn't make it," he recalled.
Hutchinson said he had no memory of Jamie Komoroski, 25, rear-ending their golf cart April 28.
FILE - This photo provided by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, in South Carolina, shows Jamie Lee Komoroski, on April 29, 2023. (Charleston County Sheriff's Office)
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Hutchinson and his new wife, Samantha Miller, 34, had just left their Folly Beach wedding reception under a canopy of sparklers on one of the most joyous days of their lives.
Miller, still in her wedding dress, died instantly in the collision, and Hutchinson was seriously injured.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," Hutchinson said. "That night going from an all-time high to an all-time low, it's pretty rough to try to comprehend."
Although he doesn't remember the collision, he does recall his bride's last words to him.
"I remember her saying she wanted the night to never end," he said, dabbing his eyes with a white tissue. "That was the last thing she said to me."
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Hutchison suffered broken bones in his back, legs and face as well as bleeding in his brain.
After spending more than a week in a hospital, he returned to the couple's Folly Beach apartment to continue healing.
The "Good Morning America" clip shows Hutchinson holding his deceased wife's wedding band and engagement ring.
"It's hard, but it's also nice," he said of being in the apartment the couple once shared. "It's got Sam written all over the house."
The interviewer asked Hutchison if he had anything to say to Komoroski.
"No, I can't right now," he responded, wiping away tears. "She stole an amazing human being that should not have been taken."
Komoroski had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit and was driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to police.
"No, I can't right now," he responded, wiping away tears. "She stole an amazing human being that should not have been taken."
Komoroski had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit and was driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to police.