DWAYNE HASKINS’ PARENTS NOT ATTENDING SON’S FUNERAL IN PITTSBURGH, WILL HOLD SEPERATE SERVICES.
Haskins’ parents said that they will instead hold two services for their son.
The parents of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who died earlier this month after being struck by a vehicle on a Florida highway, say they will not attend his funeral services Friday, according to a report.
Haskins’ wife, Kalabrya Haskins, said in a statement last week that funeral services for the former Washington quarterback would be held Friday at the Allegheny Center Alliance Church in Pittsburgh.
The pair told USA Today they have never met their son’s wife and felt that meeting her at his funeral would be the wrong time.
“We have never met or spoken to the wife, and we didn’t want our son’s funeral service to be the place we met her for the first time,” their statement to the outlet said.
Haskins, who was in Florida training with the Steelers, was attempting to cross the westbound lanes of Interstate 595 on foot when he was hit by a dump truck around 6:37 a.m. April 9, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 911 call placed by Kalabrya Haskins, who was in Pittsburgh at the time, revealed that Haskins was apparently stalled on the side of the highway and was getting gas just before being struck.
“My husband, he was stuck on the side of the highway. He had to go walk and get gas, and then he said he was returning to the car on the highway,” she explained to dispatch.
“We were on the phone, and he said he was going to call me back after he finished putting the gas in, and I kept calling and kept calling and he wasn’t answering … I just want somebody to go in the area and see if his car is there and if he’s OK and if anything happened to him.”
Haskins’ parents told WUSA9 that they will instead hold two services for their son, one on Saturday in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where Haskins was born and raised, and one Sunday in Potomac, Maryland, where he later grew up.
“We have had such an overwhelming outpouring of love for our son since the news broke of our loss,” they told the outlet. “He was touched by so many people on his journey to being a standout athlete, and we are grateful to all of them. This pain is unimaginable, and we appreciate everyone who shares in our heartbreak.”
