Wrong-way driver hits car head-on; two die [-Yoeun Sum of Stokcton died in the accident]

Family mourns father who saved wife, sons from Cambodian genocide to settle in U.S.

Monday, September 29, 2008
By Melissa Nix - mnix@sacbee.com
Sacramento Bee (California, USA)

A man who managed to escape Cambodia's killing fields, bringing his young family to the United States for a new life, was killed early Sunday by a motorist who authorities said was heading the wrong way on Interstate 5.

Yoeun Sum, 56, of Stockton, was driving his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter home from a family wedding in Willits when a BMW sedan hit his Toyota Camry head-on, the California Highway Patrol said Sunday.

Donald Vanness, 57, of Woodbridge, was driving the BMW north in the southbound lanes of I-5 and also died in the collision at Hood Franklin Road at 2:49 a.m.

Sum had escaped Cambodia nearly 30 years ago, fleeing with his wife and two young sons to avoid the genocide that took the lives of 1.7 million people.

But Sunday, Sum couldn't avoid the BMW hurtling at his family. His daughter and grandson, traveling in a car ahead of his, had a narrow escape when her husband swerved at the last moment.

"I saw a car come out of nowhere, and my husband barely dodged it," said Monyan Van, 22. "It then hit the other car," carrying her parents.

Van and other family members sat in an intensive-care waiting room while their mother, Sokpov Van, 55, was in surgery at Mercy San Juan Medical Center off Coyle Avenue in Carmichael.

She had a concussion, a broken rib and a broken leg, and is listed in serious condition. She didn't know that her husband had died in the crash, according to their son, Thoeun Van, 26, of Stockton.

Sum's Camry burned after the crash. The fire was put out, and the victims were removed from the vehicle by firefighters from the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department.

Sum died at the crash scene, officials said. Four other family members in the car were taken to different hospitals.

Thoeun Van said Sunday that his sister's 5-month-old daughter, Tyana Kylie Youen-Chanhkhiao, his brother, Chandra Van, 21, and his sister-in-law Chao Yang, 20, had been transported to UC Davis Medical Center.

The infant was released from the hospital late Sunday morning. Chao Yang remained on life support, while her husband Chandra Van was in stable condition, he said.

Vanness was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center.

Officer Michael Bradley, a spokesman, said the CHP has launched a DUI investigation.

Officials said an off-duty police officer saw the BMW going north in the southbound lanes moments before the crash, and he tried to warn motorists by flashing his lights.

He also assisted victims, along with the Fire Department, which sent six ambulances and five engines. Firefighters had to pry open both vehicles to get the victims out, said fire spokesman Steve Capps.

Thoeun Van said his parents escaped from Cambodia to Thailand with him and his brother Sam, now 28.

"They tried to kill my mom," he said, referring to Khmer Rouge revolutionaries.

But in what he described as a close call, his mother fainted. When the Khmer Rouge left her for dead, the family made its escape.

All of their mother's relatives were killed, said Monyan Van, Thoeun's sister.

From Thailand, the family made its way to Vietnam, where Sum worked as a refugee camp leader, according to a document his son showed Sunday.

The family eventually settled in Alabama. Sum worked as a sanitation worker, and his wife worked in a factory until each sustained injuries and became disabled, the son said.

In 1984, the family moved to Stockton. Sum and his wife had more children, and later, grandchildren.

The couple were a study in contrasts, according to their children. "He's the quiet one," Thoeun said of his father. "He really didn't talk unless it was important."

His sister said their mother "talks a little bit loud, but she's really funny and loving."

When asked what she would do when she got to see her mother, Monyan said she wouldn't be able to hug Sokpov Van, because of her injuries, but would tell her mother that she loved her.

"And I wish I could tell that to my dad," Monyan said, her voice catching.

Thoeun Van said he had planned to take his parents back to Cambodia next year for the first time since they left. His dad still had family there.

Instead, Thoeun will focus on what his father would want the son to do in his absence.

"To take care of everybody," he said.