Three months ago on the evening of Sunday, September 7th 2025, my husband and two of my sons were coming home after dinner shopping nearby in Fort Myers when he drove on Michael G. Rippe Parkway to enter US41. They were the second car in their lane, and as they approached the intersection, a drunk driver plowed through the US41 red light at 70mph crashing head-on into my family’s company work truck. This caused my husband to be knocked out from the collision, to suffer a neck fracture, head concussion, with his dominant right wrist completely shattered, which needed reconstruction. My son age 9 who sat in the front passenger seat was totally aware experiencing the impact, saved by his seatbelt and airbags, and walked away from this crash. My son age 8 who sat behind his brother in the rear right passenger seat had his seatbelt on but his neck snapped his head off his spine, breaking his occipital skull base from cervical C1 which broke off C2. He was rushed to trauma ER, placed under sedation and life support. The severe life-threatening injury needed to be treated at a specialty hospital in order for him to survive, so he was airlifted from Fort Myers to St. Petersburg immediately.

We almost lost my son Marco. The injury was so severe that not only was he clinging to life and fighting to stay alive, but he also risked the possibility of never being able to walk again. *Thanks* to the diligent careful work of all the good Samaritans who witnessed the devastating vehicle crash, the amazing first responders, emergency and ICU medical teams.. my son’s spinal cord stayed intact, although it also sustained some damage. Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital performed occipital-spinal fusion surgery, but because of the immense risk from the injuries, Marco had to be placed in a halo instead, a black metal brace where the 6 pins around his head is screwed all the way into the surface of his skull, past the skin. Please let me say this.. God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has given our family the blessing of life. This has been part of our strength the whole time, and I am very grateful for the chance we’ve been given to continue our lives.

With that said, our family practically lost everything we worked so hard for that night. That Honda Ridgeline truck which still managed to save my family from anything worse, was the heart of our family company operations, and losing it caused our income to stop. Myself as my son Marco’s primary round-the-clock caregiver has caused me to take a family leave of absence from work. This means we lost all of our income and we are barely hanging on.

We want to thank those who have cared for all of us, including my elderly senior parents, our close friends, all medical professionals, loyal customers, and my employer who was also our law firm that expedited the most settlement we could get from the insurance companies. *However* please understand that the drunk driver was undocumented and not the owner of the vehicle. The owner of the car that crashed us only had the most basic policy, and we were left with very little financial support. Medical expenses have been extremely high, not covered by insurances involved in the accident, and our medical insurance policy is not covering everything my son needs outside of the hospital network.

Marco is a joy to everyone who meets him. I am so proud of how much he has worked so hard to survive, fight through, and recover. His attitude is exceptionally pleasant, even considering all the suffering he endured. He had to “celebrate” his 9th birthday semi-conscious in the ICU. He is missing his gifted 3rd grade learning, classmates, educators. He is worried about whether he will ever be able to play soccer again, to go fishing, enjoy being in nature, skateboarding, and he has always wanted to become a construction builder someday. He along with his siblings are doing their best to morally boost and support each other during this difficult time.

Our only request is that you can all share this story, and if you can help with even a very small amount of cash, you will help us rebuild our lives while we do whatever it takes to keep my son Marco and my other children, recovering from this life-changing traumatic event. Myself as a mother can honestly say I’ve never faced anything this traumatic and fearsome ever before. I truly appreciate you reading this.. please consider whatever you can to help. Blessings and many thanks to you all, words are not enough to describe how much my heart reaches out to all of you!