A 15-year-old Chicago boy was fatally injured when he was hit by a wheel that flew off a semi-truck trailer as the boy helped change a flat along the shoulder of an interstate this month, and now his father is coming to grips with his loss.

According to details released in an Indiana State Police press release, the incident took place on Tuesday, Aug. 15, as 15-year-old William Jason Lamont Bell Jr. and his family were taking a road trip. As they were headed for Kentucky, their tire went flat late in the morning in northwest Indiana. William and his father were fixing the tire together on the right shoulder of eastbound Interstate 80. According to William Jason Lamont Bell Sr., his son jumped out to help without hesitation.

“Without having to ask him, ‘I wanna help.’ He wanted to help,” Bell Sr. said in an interview with WBBM-TV

William Jason Lamont Bell Jr. picture posted on Facebook in honor of his birthday. (Photo: Jason Bell on Facebook)

As they were working on the car tire, a semi truck traveling in the same direction as the Bell family on the highway had a mechanical failure that resulted in one wheel from the trailer dislodging from the rear. The tire, still attached to the rim, sped down the east barrier wall, when it struck William and four other individuals. He was quickly rushed to a local hospital and later transferred to a hospital in Chicago when his injuries were determined to be life-threatening. He would later die on Aug. 18.

The four other individuals affected by the accident received non-life-threatening injuries.

Bell Sr. says he was in complete shock when his son was hit, unable to fully even register that it even happened because “it happened all too fast.”

“Losing my son was tragic. He is in a much, much better place that we’re trying to get to,” he said. Bell Sr. took some solace in knowing that his son’s heart is still in good use after it was donated to a teen in desperate need of the vital organ.

The semi truck driver was sent to a local hospital for a mandatory toxicology test, which is standard procedure for incidents of this nature according to the press release. While the test results haven’t been determined, according to the press release, it is highly unlikely that alcohol was the reason for the incident.

William had just turned 15 last month according to a Facebook post. In the post Bell. Sr wished his “firstborn son” a happy birthday.

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