Wife recounts crash that killed hero firefighter, father of 6

Larry Campbell Jr. was a decorated firefighter who was killed in a two-car crash on Route 33 in Howell on Sunday.

HOWELL - Larry Campbell Jr.'s last conscious action was putting his arm in front of his wife, Nora, to protect her from the crash that was about to claim his life.

The Eatontown couple was traveling home on Route 33 shortly before 3:30 p.m. Sunday when a 2014 Subaru Legacy heading in the opposite direction collided with their 2007 Ford F250 while turning into The Cabin restaurant's parking lot, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said.

The force of the collision caused Campbell's truck to overturn and threw the 44-year-old father of six from his vehicle, authorities said.

Larry Campbell Jr. was a decorated firefighter who was killed in a two-car crash on Route 33 in Howell on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Nora Campbell) 

"We flipped forever, over and over and over," Nora Campbell told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. "When we stopped, I looked toward the driver's seat and Larry wasn't there anymore. Then I looked out the window, and I could see him laying there."

Nora Campbell, who authorities said also sustained serious injuries in the crash, said she crawled out the window of their mangled truck to check on her husband.

"But he was killed instantly," she said through tears.

The last thing Nora Campbell said she remembers before the crash was her husband pointing out the seemingly reckless manner in which the Subaru and two other vehicles were driving prior to the cars "cutting (them) off." And then watching him put his arm over her to brace her for the collision.

Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Charles Webster said on Monday that a blood sample from the 28-year-old driver of the Subaru showed the presence of alcohol in his system. The man is from Pompton Lakes, but his name has not been released.

Webster said toxicology results are pending and "those results will assist in determining the role that alcohol played in the collision."

Putting the safety of others before his own was instinctual for Campbell, a decorated firefighter, his wife said.

"He was the most generous person I have ever met in my life, he'd do anything for anybody," she said.

Campbell served as a firefighter for multiple departments over the years, including Jackson Mills, Eatontown, Long Branch and Oakhurst. He was the recipient of two life-saving medals.

He received one of those medals for carrying a woman out of a burning apartment building and the other for rescuing two young children from a car after their grandmother was ejected during a crash, Nora Campbell said.

"Larry was a very strong, very opinionated 'man's man'. Nothing made him cry and there was nothing that was broken that he didn't think he couldn't fix," she said. 

"There was never problems, only solutions," she said. "But that crash with the kids really hit him hard, because he had kids who were about the same age at the time. They wanted him to go to the hospital to get checked out, but all he wanted to do is go home to his kids. It really messed him up."

Campbell was the father of six children - Amanda, Christian, Gabriella, Giavanna, Hailey and Justin - who range in age from 9 years old to their mid-20's. He also had two young grandchildren.

"His kids were his world," said Nora Campbell, adding he coached his son's youth sports teams and was currently working on strengthening his relationship with his two oldest children from a previous relationship.

"Nobody was ever good enough for his daughters, he protected them in every way that he could. He was a big, tough guy. But when it came to his daughters, they made him melt."

Nora Campbell said on Thursday that she has been unable to sleep since the crash, because she keeps replaying the crash over in her mind and trying to come to terms with the fact that her husband is gone.

"We spent every moment we could together. I even went to work with him when I could and when we weren't together, we would be texting and calling each other all day. That's how close we were," she said.

"We had spoken before about if, God forbid, something were to happen to one of us. And he'd always say: 'If one of us goes, I hope it's me because I couldn't live without you. You're stronger than me.' ... I just don't want to believe it's true."

Funeral services for Larry Campbell will be private and held in early September to enable family from other states and outside of the country to make the necessary travel arrangements, Nora Campbell said.