CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A young man died instantly in a tragic accident on W.T. Harris Boulevard near Albemarle Road in east Charlotte early Thursday.

An officer at the scene said it was one of the worst crashes he’s seen in his career.

Police said just before 8 a.m., a father and son were on their way to work in a black minivan when the father fell asleep at the wheel. The minivan hit the corner of a stopped tow truck, slicing right through the van.

“It’s a flatbed wrecker, and it completely sheered off the right side of (the van),” said Sgt. Dave Sloan of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Highway Interdiction Traffic Safety Unit.

The minivan didn’t stop until it hit the gold sedan in front of the tow truck.

Michael Patton Jr., who turned 21 just a few days ago, was killed. No one else was injured.

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IMAGES: Man Killed In Gruesome East Charlotte Crash

VIDEO: Handling Crash Scene Difficult For Emergency Workers

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Much of the young man’s family arrived at the scene shortly after the crash. Some officers worked to console the family members, while their colleagues worked to clean up the remnants of the violent crash and keep it from the eyes of passing drivers. The cleanup took nearly three hours.

Patton’s cousin said the one thing that will get the family through this terrible accident is their faith.

“He was loved by everybody, everybody loved Michael,” Mary Wortham said. “He was saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. We know that he’s up there in heaven with the Lord.”

The family is trying to keep its spirits up with Christmas just days away.

“We’re going to miss him, but he’s gone to a better place,” Wortham said. “He’s gone to a better place.”

Violent Scene Hard On Emergency Workers

Even veteran officers like Rick Grubb of the CMPD were bothered by the tragic scene of a deadly crash just before the holidays.

“Just to pull up on a scene like this, where you have someone that’s been killed in a accident – it’s just bad to come up on,” Grubb said.

Grubb said this wreck was especially violent, and he had the task of consoling the victim’s mother.

A police chaplain also offered words to family members, and even the emergency workers themselves, who were traumatized by the scene.

Many of the officers had rushed to the scene directly from dropping off Christmas gifts to families in need.

“We were actually over doing the Christmas project deliveries this morning, and we got the call to come out here, so it made it even worse,” Sloan said.

But even as the officers, firefighters and paramedics grappled between personal sadness and professional duty, just feet away they were reminded of the people in real pain.

“Around the holidays, a family loses a family member – it’s got to be very, very hard on the family,” Grubb said.