Life requires a bargaining game in risk assessment – people often make decisions based on the comparative risks for corresponding courses of action in order to have fun, meet goals and even put food on the table.

Unfortunately for us, a risk is only a possible consequence, sometimes rendered ironically. Croc Hunter Steve Irwin’s fame was the result of close encounters with deadly crocodiles, his death the result of a freak accident with a usually nonfatal stingray.

This summer, eastern Iowa newspapers blared “One dead, one arrested in Amana pond crash.” The story, credited to The Associated Press, stated Victor J. Harrill, 21, of South Amana, veered from the road, hit two trees and rolled into the Amana Lily Lake on June 20. Harrill’s failure to negotiate a curve caused the accident, and his passenger, Chance Parish, was flown to University Hospitals in Iowa City and subsequently died.

The article, shamelessly wired verbatim, with no updates, failed to provide a central tenet of journalism – the story.

David Gott – my father – was on his way home from the local gas station around 7 on a Wednesday evening when he noticed a vehicle on its side in the Lily Lake. Lily Lake, an official title, is a misnomer – it is not a lake, but a 5-foot-deep pond, and does not contain lilies, but lotuses.

Gott, 52, waded out to the vehicle where he found Harrill struggling to keep his head above water, tangled in his seatbelt. His cousin, Parish, had taken a bloody beating from the series of collisions prior to their disembarkment from land. Gott helped remove the boys from the vehicle until the paramedics arrived.

Iowa State Troopers and Iowa County deputies questioned a relatively unharmed Harrill about the medical history of his cousin – who had to be revived on scene before he was flown to University Hospitals in Iowa City. His answers were confused and sloppy.

Gott, who remained at the scene for Harrill’s sake, ordered him to answer the officers. At first, Harrill was hostile to him – it had become apparent his incoherent mental state was the result of alcohol intoxication. He then broke down and cried, “You’re the only person who ever gave a shit about me.”

Gott was his neighbor and soccer coach. Three years ago, Gott had taken a personal interest in Harrill, who had developed an addiction to cocaine and other drugs. With a single mother unable to control her son, Harrill’s default authority figure had become Gott, whom he loathed for trying to commit him to a substance abuse treatment facility. His rebellion came in the form of his vandalism of Gott’s vehicle, and even more loathing came when he was convicted of serious criminal mischief and sentenced to five years of probation after Gott pressed charges.

Gott knew his responsibility had not been relieved of him – despite past aggression, headache, inconvenience and threats, it was his duty to be there for someone who had no one else. He changed his bloody clothes to go to the hospital as Harrill’s only guide, thinking of the implications of the evening’s events – divine intervention. Whether that, or alignment of the stars, universal interconnectivity or pure coincidence, it was now his duty to provide a moral compass for a troubled person who had no one else.

Grief is a particularly odd process, especially when mixed with guilt and shock, as well as alternating thoughts of pessimism and optimism about the inevitable criminal charges following such a mistake.

After an episode of grief about the result of his actions and the prospect of a long prison sentence, Harrill told Gott about his hopes for a plea bargain – an unbelievable prospect in a case with clear and convincing evidence of his crime, but one that would eventually occur nonetheless. Gott had tried to convince Harrill to account for his crime by accepting full responsibility instead. After a hearing Thursday, Harrill will likely serve no more than two years for homicide by vehicle resulting from a decision to operate a vehicle while intoxicated.

The tragic story of Romeo and Juliet was founded in irony. The story of Harrill and the Lily Lake is of the same fabric. Harrill was not under the influence of cocaine, a drug with seemingly much higher risks than alcohol.

His easy break of a plea bargain will not likely help him to change his behavior.

That’s equally tragic.

– Aaron Gott is a senior in political

science from South Amana.