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Parents Of Van Crash Victim Share Their Story

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Nov 20, 2009 7:04 am US/Mountain

Parents Of Van Crash Victim Share Their Story

FEDERAL HEIGHTS, Colo. (CBS4) ― Joshua Pischura was planning to be a pastor like his father. Those dreams ended when he and another passenger died in a devastating crash of a church van last week.

Pischura was killed while traveling with his church group from Colorado to Oregon. His younger sister Katie was sitting right next to him on the van and was one of several others on board who was injured but survived.

On Thursday at New Life Worship Center in Federal Heights Pischura's parents Dawn and Harry reflected on the crash and their family's loss.

"They were really close," said Dawn of the two children.

Katie told her mother that she and her brother linked arms trying to protect each other after the van hit black ice on Interstate 84 in Oregon and rolled several times. Most of the passengers were thrown from the vehicle.

Dawn at first didn't know the condition of either of her children after the crash. A hospital chaplain broke the news.

"He said that our daughter was okay, and then he told me that I'm sorry to tell you this, but your son has passed away," she said.

No matter how strong their faith is, Joshua's parents say solace is very difficult to find right now. The Ohio couple is in Colorado this week, and the New Life Worship Center has asked CBS4 to pay it forward to them.

"I cry at night before I go to bed and I cry every morning when I wake up," she said.

Dawn said her son loved the piano and that playing heartfelt hymns helps her deal with her grief.

"Where do we go from here? One day at a time, hanging on to the Lord's hand," Dawn said.

All of the bible students on the trip with Joshua, 20, described him as someone special, quietly devout, friendly and devoted to his 18-year-old sister, as well as his other brothers and sisters (The Pischuras have 10 children.)

"He was the best son a father could ever want," said his father Harry, a pastor at New Life Assembly of God Church, in Geneva, Ohio.

Harry Pischura says his son was a "champion." He said he is already trying to use his tragedy to help others.

Taune Winter Pepper, 23, also died in the Nov. 12 crash. The group was participating in the center's master's commission mentoring program and was heading to a conference in Portland.

Some of the victims are still recovering in the hospital.

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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