Support Alec Tran's Family After Tragic Loss

On Friday, September 27th, 2024, my family and I were driving home after a typical night out having dinner. As we turned off of the Bayou La Batre exit toward home, we saw a horrific looking car accident in the middle of the intersection by the Love's Truckstop. An SUV had collided into an 18 wheeler, and our minds went to the worst case scenario for the SUV's passengers.

My fiancé, Noah Godwin, decided that it would be best if he hop out of the car and try to see how he could help since there were no paramedics or officers on the scene yet. Noah's cousin, Katie Tran, and I along with our daughter parked at the Love's Truckstop and waited for an update call from Noah to see what we should do. After a few minutes, we decide to look over the hill down towards the wreck and saw that Noah was now going in and out of the SUV and speaking with paramedics and other good samaritans that had decided to stop to try to help. My phone began to ring, and I picked up Noah's call not really knowing what to expect.

"Hey, I'm going to stay here, and I'm thinking y'all should probably go ahead and head home. But Hailey, you need to tell Katie. It's Alec. It's Chico."

Katie saw my face drop and knew immediately that something was wrong. Alec "Chico" Tran, Katie's big brother, was the driver of the SUV, and he was seriously injured but talking to Noah through it all.

We rushed to the car and Katie pushed through the shock and fear to call her younger brother Aidan, and he had just gotten off of work, so he started heading toward the wreck immediately to help. We picked up their mom and headed back to the wreck where firefighters and paramedics were working to get Alec out of the crushed vehicle and get him to the hospital to treat his injuries. We were hopeful but not aware of how bad his injuries truly were.

Chico sustained traumatic injuries to his entire body including a broken arm, two broken femurs, multiple broken ribs, and severely bruised lungs. And he was cracking jokes and trying his best to comfort the entire family from the scene of the accident all the way up until his first surgery. Everyone was very hopeful and planning accomodations for him like a wheel chair ramp at his mother's home and physical therapy options like low impact swimming to slowly gain back strength.

This first surgery successfully treated his broken arm, and doctors also prepared his femurs for follow up surgery at the same time. After this surgery, he was awake and responding well to the doctor's commands but was in immense pain from the bruising on his lungs and broken ribs. Doctors decided to sedate him and ventilate him to help him breathe through the pain in order to get full breathes and good oxygen.

The next day, doctors performed his leg surgery. The surgery was successful, and doctors said it looked like he wouldn't need anymore surgeries which was great news to our family. Friends and family from all over Mobile and across state lines were filling up the waiting room and parking lot to talk and visit with him and learn more about his recovery options. We weren't able to talk with him after this surgery because he never woke up. Doctors did their best to try to help Alec get the oxygen he needed and maintain healthy vitals under the traumatic circumstances, but his lungs were just too damaged from the violent impact of the car accident.

Alec passed away on the morning of October 2nd, 2024 surrounded by his loved ones.

Alec had just celebrated his 29th birthday in July and deserved so much more time, but it was tragically cut short. Although he was a big man, Chico was a huge teddy bear to the people who really knew him. He cared so much for others and always did what he could to help even if he happened to be in a low spot himself.

His family is having to deal with the shocking loss of a uncle, son, brother, cousin, and nephew, and the costs for medical, funeral and memorial services, and other financial burdens will be another overwhelming responsibility that they will have to bear.

I am asking for your support in helping our family to pay for some of these expenses. Any generous donations to aid in this sudden tragedy would be appreciated so much. Not having to worry as much about financial burden will help our family to be able to begin grieving properly without having to stress about not being able to afford the disposition of our loved one. We love him very much and want to fulfill what we believe his wishes would have been.

Thank you again so much for any help that you can give. Alec was truly a one of a kind, and we are going to miss him and his big beautiful smile greatly.