Zakarias Lada

**Zakarias Frederick Lada** (February 1, 2000 - October 10, 2019), known best as Zakary, was the oldest son of Ezekiel Lada. He had Automy 17.

## Early Life

Zakary was born in 2000 to Ezekiel and Kelly Lada. After he was born, Ezekiel and the doctors noticed he wasnt moving his wheels much, and also noticed he had a stubby roof, low side view mirrors, and that he was born without either of his headlights. While he was being examined, the doctors noticed many underdeveloped parts in his undercarriage, and an extra wheelhouse starting to form. 2 days after he was born, he was diagnosed with Automy 17, a very similar condition to Daniel and was expected to only live a month at the very most. However, unlike most other cars born with it, he surpassed that, and over a 6 year period, he had many of his defects repaired including getting a radiator, having his fuel pump connected to the fuel cell, and having his extra wheelhouse and half-developed axle removed.

## 2006-present

With his surgeries and his luck, he was only left with cylinder defects, underdeveloped axles, a disconnected driveshaft, lazy eyes, and a slight windshield defect. He was born without headlights but wore stickers like racecars do in order to look more normal. He was even able to turn a little bit! However, he was blind, he couldn't drive on his own, he couldn't talk, and he couldn't fuel himself, so he had an extra fuel pump attached to his decklid that went straight into his fuel cell. He had the mental capacity of a 2 year old and was only the size of an 8 year old car despite his age. He had constant health problems, and broke down every 3 weeks at best, sometimes more often than that, so Ezekiel and J.J. found themselves sending him to a repair shop very often. Many times they came come close to losing him, like in 2015, when he almost died of a severe case of sludgemonia. He showed emotion and despite not being able to talk, occasionally laughed and made sounds. It was believed he could understand other cars. He usually rode on a small flatbed trailer hauled by J.J. when he went out in public. For a while it was unknown if he was actually still alive because he hadn't been seen at a race since 2015, but in June 2019 he was spotted at a CARCA race in Owen's pit, confirming he was. Despite the fact that his condition has been known since the 1940s, it has come to be known as Lada Syndrome, and there is a website named after Zakary where families can share stories of cars that have it. He is believed to be the longest living car with have the syndrome, living or dead. The main reason he wasnt seen in years was because he was kept out of the spotlight for a long time, but he was seen on Owen's instagram page frequently, and had his own page with pictures of his life and health updates. On October 4, 2019, he was placed in hospice care before dying peacefully on October 10, 2019.

## Final Months/Death

In April of 2019, Zakarias started having electrical issues that brought back the engine issues he had dealt with for years. Zakarias broke down almost every 3 weeks, but that increased to 2 weeks and eventually 1 week. He nearly died in August of 2019 while he was having yet another electrical system replaced due to the weakness of his body and the amount of repairs after he was having done. His technician warned the Lada family after this repair that Zakary probably wouldn't make it to 20, so they had him placed in hospice on October 4.

October 10, 2019 looked to be one of the best days he'd had in a while, however, at around 6:00 he had the first of around 8 engine attacks, with nurses having to revive him around every 30 minutes. He went to sleep at 8, and died peacefully a few hours later. The official cause of death was listed as engine arrest. Owen was the first to announce it on Zakary's Instagram page, with a heartfelt caption that read:

"*It is my unfortunate responsibility tonight to let everyone know that Zakary passed away peacefully a few hours ago at around 10:30. The worst day of my life is the start of a new life, a better life, for him. As you know, Zakary had a severe electrical issue in April, which he recovered from, however in August, he had another one, but this time he never got back to full strength. Zakary, over the years you've taught me so many lessons about love, happiness, perseverence, and so much more. You went through so much in your 19 years and surpassed everyones expectations until your last breath. I'm going to miss having you to brighten me up after a bad day or a loss. Thank you so much to the mechanics, doctors, and nurses that let him live his earthly life to the fullest, and for believing in him despite having all the odds stacked against him. Zakary, in your life you traveled to half the states in the country, traveled 14 hours overseas and lived there for over a year, you got pushed around Florida Int'l Raceway last year, and so many more things most people only dream of, but most importantly, you touched the lives of everyone that ever met you. I'll see you again one day, and we can race eachother, talk about sports, and get to know eachother for who we really are. Thank you, Zakary, it was wonderful being your brother."*

Ash also posted a statement, saying:

"*There was an emergency a couple days ago, back on the 4th, and Zak was placed in hospice care. We were on standby knowing that his time would come and, well, it did. Zak passed away at about 10:30 PM last night, after a 19-year battle with Automy 17. He didn't really lose the battle, as he is no longer suffering, and we knew that he would die pretty soon. I would like to thank you guys for covering the cost to fly him to Roadland for treatment, paying for the machine, sending him back to the USA, shipping his machine back, paying for his race tickets, and paying for his hospice care."*

A plaque now stands at Loudrev Community Cemetery in Loudrev, New Hampshire. Other plaques stand in Warsaw, Poland, and Trenton, Roadland.

## Trip to Roadland

In 2016, Zakarias was flown to Roadland for new treatment, where the doctors were shocked by his many abnormalities. He was put on a machine that let him communicate, and the Lada family reluctantky left him there upon hearing he'd have to stay there until the technology was released globally. In 2017, Kristina flew him back home and asked to have the machine shipped instead, not wanting Zakarias to spend the rest of his life in Roadland, as he could take a turn for the worst at any moment.

## Major Health Issues/Scares

### **2000-2006**

His many defects caused many health issues throughout his first 6 years, though they were mostly corrected by surgery within this time period.

### **2008**

He started having frequent cases of sludgemonia, which went on for years.

### **2012**

He started breaking down frequently, usually once every 3 weeks.

### **2015**

He almost died of a severe case of sludgemonia in October, which resulted in an engine check, where they discovered he was missing 3 cylinders that hadn't previously been found. Zakarias got cylinders implanted the next month and stopped getting sludgemonia.

### **2019**

He started having issues with his electrical system that also damaged his engine, which was discovered to be an issue he had dealt with for years, though it suddenly progressed then. He survived the initial progression of it over the summer, but struggled with health issues until the very end. Fury Gamington regularly checked in on Zakary to make sure everything is ok, as did Owen and Ezekiel. When he died, Owen moved in with Fury.