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Parents of hit-and-run victims celebrate pregnancy
Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Simon Read, STAFF WRITER
DANVILLE -- Bob and Carmen Pack -- the Danville couple whose two children were struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver nearly two years ago -- are expecting a child.
Carmen Pack, 44, learned last week she was seven weeks pregnant, Bob Pack said. Dr. Louis Weckstein at the Reproductive Science Center in San Ramon delivered the news.
"We're very excited," said Bob Pack, 49. "It's been such a tough year."
In February -- after successfully undergoing in-vitro fertilization -- Carmen Pack found out she was pregnant with twins. Three months later, doctors terminated the 20-week pregnancy because an escalating infection threatened Pack's life.
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The tragic end to that pregnancy came just weeks after Walnut Creek nanny Jimena Barreto, 46, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the Oct. 26, 2003, deaths of Troy and Alana Pack.
Barreto -- who has a history of drunken-driving convictions -- was under the influence of alcohol and painkillers at the time of the accident.
The children were on their way to get ice cream when Barreto's 1979 Mercedes 300D jumped the sidewalk at Camino Tassajara and Rasssani Drive in Danville and struck the children, court records said.
Alana, 7, died immediately. Troy, 10, died later that night at Children's Hospital Oakland.
"It's going to be different this time around," Bob Pack said on Friday. "We're going to keep things low key and quiet. We think that will help."
Pack said the stress of attending Barreto's trial and awaiting a verdict took its toll. This time, they plan to keep the stress level to a minimum.
Since the verdict, the Packs have kept to themselves and taken time to regroup and consider what's next, Pack said.
"We do have the two-year anniversary of the accident coming up, but we're prepared for that," he said. "We're not going to do anything public. We'll go to church and then visit the cemetery."
Being parents again is an exciting thought, Bob Pack said.
"Carmen is very happy," he said. "She has a big smile on her face. She's been so nervous because of what happened last time -- she's really excited to have this chance again."
Carmen Pack's niece, Pamela Chirinos, 21, came to the United States from Peru on a visa to help the Packs start a new family by donating her eggs.
Four embryos remain, Bob Pack said.
Although excited about the future, Pack said the pain of losing Troy and Alana will never go away.
"I have days where I'm as sad and depressed as I was the day after it happened," he said. "The pain is never completely gone -- you just learn to live with it."
Since that fateful October day, the Packs have become lobbyists for stricter state laws against drunken drivers. But right now, it's parenthood that is foremost on their minds.
"We're happy," he said. "We need something good to happen."
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