FLORENCE, Ky. — A 12-year-old boy who was seriously hurt in a crash on Industrial Road in Florence on July 6 has died from his injuries, according to the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.
The coroner's office reports 12-year-old Camden Hunter died Monday from injuries he received in the crash. He died at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, the report says.
For Clarence Hunter, the hardest part isn't just that his 12-year-old son is gone. It's that the chance to truly know him disappeared, too.
Hunter said he spent years trying to be part of Camden's life. He imagined introducing himself to his son, discovering his interests and making memories together.
"I had plans for him," Clarence said. "I wanted to see what he liked, what hobbies he had. I wanted to take him to Disney. I wanted to be his dad."
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Instead, Clarence's first extended time with Camden in over a decade came beside a hospital bed.
"I just told him how I love him," Clarence said. "I told him I was sorry I wasn't there."
Clarence said he remained hopeful each day Camden remained on life support, but the day he breathed his last was like a gut punch.
"I didn't understand why they were still leaving him there, like he just was there for seven days, so they kept making me think every day that he probably could pull through," Clarence said. "It's kind of like feeling like I'm trapped in a tank at the bottom of the ocean, like out of touch with communication. It's like I'm dying with him. It's like they killed me. As he lay there on the bed. I could only see that he had been stolen from me."
Although Clarence never had the opportunity to raise Camden himself, he said family members painted a picture of the boy he wished he'd known.
They described Camden as bright, confident and determined. Clarence said he learned his son wanted to become a police officer someday.
"I like that, though," Clarence said with a laugh. "He could be the opposite of me."
The crash also killed Camden's aunt, 55-year-old Shirley Hadden. A third passenger in the vehicle, Camden's 70-year-old grandmother, was taken to UC Medical Center with injuries that were serious but not life-threatening, the Boone County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies found that Hadden was driving a 2020 Honda Fit northbound while exiting the BidFTA parking lot. When she attempted to turn left from the parking lot and cross both eastbound lanes to travel west, she pulled into the path of a 2018 Hyundai Sonata that was being driven by a 52-year-old woman from Erlanger.
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Hadden was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Florence, where she was pronounced dead the same day, the sheriff's office said.
All occupants in both vehicles involved were wearing seat belts when the crash occurred.
