Helmet and ‘Minor Miracle’ Save Boy in Cycle Accident : Tragedy: 8-year-old’s father is fatally injured in crash when car turns in front of them as they return from pizza store.

Patrick Shanahan lived a child’s nightmare Monday when he and his father, Casey, were thrown from their motorcycle after smashing into a car that crossed their path.

Patrick, 8, sustained no real injuries when he landed on his head and skidded on his helmet.

But his father, who had no headgear, suffered fatal brain damage.

“My helmet had a big scrape along the side,” Patrick said Wednesday afternoon at his mother’s home after coming home from school. “We saw it coming and he tried to avoid (the car) but it all happened pretty fast.”

Patrick watched the paramedics shock his father’s heart to life before rushing him to the hospital.

Shanahan, 32, of Santa Ana, died Tuesday morning at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana after spending the night on a respirator.

The pair were cruising down Santa Clara Avenue about 10 p.m. after eating at a pizza place when a black car made a left turn in front of them at Wright Street. The motorcycle hit the side of the car and bounced onto the car’s hood.

“It is a minor miracle that Patrick suffered only a small scrape on his knee,” said Barbara Shanahan, Casey’s mother.

Two days later, Patrick spoke with difficulty about the accident.

“I felt a little better today,” he said, adding that it bothered him whenever he saw a black car on the road.

Though Patrick did not go to school Tuesday, he went back Wednesday.

“I asked him if he felt like staying home from school,” said Lorrie McGee, 29, Patrick’s mother and Shanahan’s one-time girlfriend. “He told me not to worry about him.”

Investigating officers said they have not yet determined whether to seek charges against the car’s driver.

Barbara Shanahan said the elder Shanahan had outgrown motorcycles, which he took up in high school, and was using one Monday only because his truck was not running.

“I always hated those bikes, there was no one happier when he outgrew them,” she said. “But look what happened.”

A new state law will make helmets mandatory for all motorcylists beginning Jan. 1.

Barbara Shanahan said her husband used his helmet primarily on the freeway, but hung it on his handlebars for short trips.

“It seems like such a waste.”