Support the Huggins Family After Car Crash

Tuesday, June 10th 2025, my family, including myself, my wife Katya, our son Bae K, and our 3 kitties, were all in our family’s trusty Honda Pilot on our way from Brooklyn to celebrate Father’s Day with family in Dayton, Ohio. It’s a trip we’ve made countless times through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Around 9:30 pm, we hit a deer going 70 mph, which flipped our car into the median and sent us, from the police report’s official statistics, 400 yards up the embankment, then 400 more yards down the embankment, eventually landing on the eastbound side of Interstate 80. I knew we traveled a good distance but found it hard to believe when informed by the tow truck driver. I asked him again if he was sure because that is an incredible distance to travel flipping and rolling in a car. I was assured with official coordinates that we did indeed travel that far—8 football fields. As I write this, I’m still in shock considering how blessed we are to have survived this encounter and be able to write this at all. Everyone knows the outcome could have been much, much worse.

I sustained a dislocated elbow and 2 fractures in my right arm. My wife Katya, whose door was ripped off, has a compound fracture of her right arm, multiple breaks in her left foot, and 3 toes. Miraculously, our son Bae K only had a bruised lung from the seatbelt. The windshield looked like a kaleidoscope of green grass, lavender, and white flowers. Time slowed down, and it felt like an eternity. As soon as we stopped flipping, I took account of our family. Our son was up and expressed that he was fine. Nothing hurt. No broken bones. Katya was screaming from pain inflicted by her injuries, but we were all alive. I was hanging from my seatbelt and assessed my own injuries, but astoundingly had no head trauma, back trauma, and could move my legs and arms. Two truckers were there to help us from the vehicle. We lived through the most harrowing experience of our lives. The police and paramedics arrived within a few minutes. The fire department cut the roof of the car to release Katya from the vehicle. All 3 kitties were in hard-sided carriers and survived. All miracles. They took us to the nearest hospital 30 minutes from the crash site where we began our healing journey. I spent 3 days admitted and was released. Katya had surgery to repair her arm broken in 2 places with plates and screws. Her foot was broken with bones coming through the skin, so her recovery will take longer. She has plates and screws in her foot and pins in her toes to help her bones heal correctly. She is still in the hospital and will immediately go to rehab when she is finally released.

We are currently in the process of moving out of our place in Brooklyn, so this is a major challenge. We are lucky to be alive and blessed beyond measure to be able to share this experience with you. I’m currently in a hotel with my son close to the hospital that fixed me, and we are awaiting Katya’s ability to leave. This will take a couple more weeks. I must rent a car and hotel room for that duration until we are able to return home. Neither of us will be able to work for a while, and the expenses are piling up. Many people have offered to help us, so I figured this platform would be an easy way to accept those offers easily and humbly. We are so grateful to still be here as a family unit and understand most people do not walk away from these situations. Our cats are being cared for by Animals Matter, a nonprofit organization that places pets with parents like us in foster care until they can be reunited with families in situations like ours. We will be sharing a portion of these proceeds with them.

We are filled with gratitude that we are all still here and that we have friends eager to help us get through this process.

Every second from now on is a gift, and we will not take a moment for granted.

Proceeds will go toward expenses we are incurring and replace income not happening due to our current circumstances.

I will update this page with our progress.

Thank you sincerely,

The Huggins Family from Bushwick, New York