It was a typical work day for a 911 operator, until she got the most dreaded call a mother could get when her own son was involved in a fatal car accident. INSIDE EDITION sat down with the grieving mother.
A 911 operator took a call for what she thought was a routine emergency. It became the worst call of her life.
A car, driving too fast, had crashed into a light pole. Fire fighters were trying to save the life of the driver trapped in the twisted wreckage.
911 Operator Sue Goodale: "Motor vehicle accident. Possible entrapment....Both companies working on extraction at this time. Requesting med flight."
911 operator Sue Goodale was about to find out the driver was her only son, Noah.
Goodale said, "I just got this feeling, it washed over me. I knew it was Noah. It just...I knew."
Goodale showed INSIDE EDITION the 911 call center in Brockton, Massachusetts, where she was on duty that night. She was dropped off at work by 21-year-old Noah, who'd borrowed her car for the evening.
"I said, 'Please just drive carefully and take care of yourself and be safe.' I told him I loved him and went into work," said Goodale.
A few hours later, the call came in. Goodale had a mother's premonition.
"I did what I would do for any other call. I did my job and then I just sat there praying," recalls Goodale.
Her worst nightmare came true when a fire chief arrived to break the tragic news in person.
Goodale said, "You knew it was bad and then the fire chief came through the door and I knew he was coming for me."
Noah had been driving fast and was horsing around with a friend. Then, he lost control when he tried to avoid another car. Goodale rushed to the accident scene and met up with her husband, Tom who is a fire captain in Brockton.
Tom said, "The car was so bad. People don't walk away from an accident like that."
The car looked like nothing but jagged metal and broken glass. The fire fighters who tried to save Noah all knew him. He was like a member of their family.
"If this had to happen to him, I'm glad it happened in our hometown with people that knew him and aren't strangers," said Goodale.
Noah died on his way to the hospital. Now, Sue visits the spot where the accident happened. It's become the site of a makeshift memorial.
"I never thought that one of these roadside memorials would be for my son," said Goodale.
She knew as a 911 operator that she'd be dealing with tragedy every day, but nothing like this.
Goodale said, "That particular night, I just wanted to leave. I wanted to get to him. I wanted just to see him and hold his hand and just tell him I loved him."
