Son's recovery from coma reaps Corvette
Thomas Stackiewicz looked at his son, comatose at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after the Super Bowl riots, and made a promise.
"As I stood over him, I said, 'Jason, if you wake up and you live, I'll buy you a Corvette,' " he said. "I was committed, and then when he woke, I told him what I'd promised him."
Jason Stackiewicz, 21, suffered severe brain injuries when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle Feb. 2 on Symphony Road after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. He has recovered to the point he will be able to return to Northeastern University in September to continue his criminal justice studies.
In May, he picked out a $75,000 Corvette.
"I think he had motivation to get better," said Thomas Stackiewicz, who lives in La Grange, N.Y., near Poughkeepsie.
The Stackiewiczes went to Poughkeepsie Chevrolet, where Jason ordered a 2005 torch red Corvette, equipped with a flat-screen television, DVD player, global positioning system, satellite radio, and chrome wheels.
"It's so new," said Thomas Carter, a salesman at the dealership. "He got the first allocation probably in this area. You can't get it any more loaded."
Jason Stackiewicz's new car will arrive at his home in September, his father said. The Corvette will replace his $40,000 Mustang Cobra convertible.
"He's going from great to best," his father said.
There is one catch: Stackiewicz will make the 200-mile trek to Boston in the family car Sept. 1 to resume his studies at about the time the Corvette is scheduled to arrive. He said it is too bad he will be leaving just as he is getting to know his new car.
"I'm going to take some pictures," he said. "I'll just look at them every day and come home when I can."
His father, an aficionado who owns three Corvettes, will see to it that the new car is not lonely.
"Every time he comes home on the weekend or holiday, he'll have his fancy car," he said. "Dad will have to just take care of it. . . . I guess dad will have to borrow it for a while."
