A day at the fair turned to tragedy on the way home for a local family.
They were involved in a devastating crash that injured their young son and caused his father to lose an arm. Their story appears to have captured the attention of a major celebrity.
The family has a goal of raising $100,000 for a prosthetic arm. They started a GoFundMe to raise the money three days ago. Within that time, the community has shown an outpouring of support. They’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars including a big donation from Chrissy Teigen.
Credit: GoFundMe
Back in August, Jared Duchow, his wife Hillary and their 5-year-old son Jared were on their way back home after spending the day at the Ventura County Fair. While driving on State Route 126 to Santa Clarita, they say a car crossed onto their side of the road and hit them head-on.
Their car was totaled. In the dark, Hillary called 911 and tried to help her bleeding husband and unconscious son.
“That’s when I saw Jared and Ryder,” she explained to KTLA 5’s Kimberly Cheng. “Jared was still conscious but he was saying ‘ow, ow’ and he was really trying to get out of the car. I know he really wanted to help us in the situation because that’s the way he is. Ryder was unconscious and bleeding from the head and Jared’s right arm was very badly injured. I was just freaked out we were going to be hit by a car.”
All three survived the crash; however, Jared lost his dominant arm. The family is now trying to raise money for a prosthetic arm with a working hand and elbow that would give him more autonomy. Hillary’s mom created the GoFundMe page and those close to them shared it, and they’ve received support from family, friends, and strangers including Teigen, who donated $10,000.
Hillary believes she heard about the fundraiser through her sister who works with celebrities.
The Duchow family has been through a lot recently.
Months before the crash, Hillary had a procedure done on her heart. She choked up when expressing how much the support of loved ones has meant to her.
“It’s just like, we’re trying to get through it. So we’re really surprised at all this attention seriously,” she said. “And so grateful.”
The family says that the prosthetic arm would not be covered by insurance. They also have mounting medical bills because the other driver was reportedly not insured.