Ten years ago, the phone call that every parent dreads rang in the house Charlotte and Emmitt Ray.
Their son Jason Ray – a charismatic senior at the University of North Carolina who had played Rameses, the Tar Heels mascot, for three years at UNC sporting events – had been struck by a car in New Jersey.
Jason had been walking along the shoulder of a highway, on his way to buy a burrito and soda at a nearby convenience store before donning the Rameses costume again for UNC for a 2007 NCAA men’s basketball tournament game.