Help The Pfeifer’s On The Road To Recovery After Crash!

On Sunday, March 23, 2025, after a normal Sunday afternoon of youth sports and family errands, their lives changed in an instant when the vehicle that my sister Rachel, brother-in-law Joey, my 14-year-old nephew JJ, and a teammate were traveling home in was involved in a head-on collision. This sent them off-road, into a concrete barrier causing the truck to go into the air, flipping and crashing through trees, landing nose down. The crash was so severe that multiple EMS and rescue services were called to the scene to respond. These heroes, which included Rachel's own brother-in-law, had to use life-saving techniques to remove the roof and doors of the truck, where they remained entrapped for over 20 minutes from the time of the initial 911 call. Once extricated, everyone involved was transported to Cooper Trauma Center, Joey and Rachel each by helicopter, and the boys each via ambulance.

Out of respect for the age and privacy of the teammate, we can only say that his injuries thankfully allowed for him to be discharged to his family that same evening.

Joey, Rachel, and JJ were all admitted to the trauma unit, undergoing immediate necessary emergency procedures. For 8 grueling hours, family, including their 16-year-old daughter Bella, and loved ones sat in the waiting room for some kind of news. It was an amazing sigh of relief when doctors FINALLY relayed the fact that, while severely bruised and banged up, they were all ALIVE! Joey with a broken femur, nose, and various scrapes and stitches. JJ requiring a 12-hour intubation in order to close a serious head laceration with 22 staples. Rachel, a major concern given her ongoing battle with cancer for the past 8 years, seemed to get the worst of things. She was immediately treated by a cosmetic specialist for a major laceration across the entire top of her forehead, which required countless stitches both inside and out. Ongoing chemo treatments have made her bones brittle. The right side of her body, taking on a good part of the impact, was fractured at the hand, hip, and heel. Fractures to her sternum and spine have her in a heavy-duty neck and chest brace for at least the next 6-8 weeks. She has already had surgery on her hand and partially on her hip with most likely more surgeries to come down the line. While Joey and JJ both have since been discharged, Rachel remains hospitalized at this time in the trauma ICU. It is unknown at this time when Rachel will come home to her family. There is even a possibility that if/when she gets discharged from Cooper she may have to go to a facility where she will have 24-hour health care until she gets stronger and healthier to come home.

As you can imagine, the road to recovery will be long and arduous for the entire family. This is where we ask you to come in and help support them in this incredibly difficult time. Now without a vehicle, source of income, and 3/4 of the immediate family requiring intensive medical care, the future is unknown. What we do know is that moving forward, the family will need help covering any medical expenses, daily necessities, and other unforeseen costs in the weeks and months to come.

With all of that being said, on behalf of The Pfeifer Family, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read their story. Your generous donations will surely have a significant impact on helping The Pfeifer Family during this difficult time that NOBODY would ever dream of going through. Your support and love are greatly appreciated and mean the world to ALL of us. It's only up from here with your help. I truly believe IT TAKES A VILLAGE!!