3 children have serious injuries after California crosswalk crash. Here’s how to help

Michael McGough
·3 min read
8

Family and loved ones have shared more details about the three children who were seriously injured when a van struck five preschoolers Wednesday morning in Northern California, as hundreds of community members have already raised tens of thousands of dollars toward medical bills in the two days since the tragedy.

California Highway Patrol officials said three children suffered major injuries and two others had minor injuries after an appliance repair van struck them in a crosswalk around 10:40 a.m. on Pony Express Trail in the El Dorado County town of Pollock Pines. All five were rushed to hospitals, some of them airlifted.

The cause of Wednesday’s crash remains under investigation. The van’s driver stopped at the scene and cooperated with authorities. Speed, drugs and alcohol are not suspected as factors, officials with the CHP’s Placerville area office said.

Here are some of the ways you can contribute to the victims’ families.

GoFundMe pages set up for families of 3 children

Crowdfunding website GoFundMe has verified pages benefiting the families of the three seriously injured victims – one set up by the aunt of a victim, and the other two by a family friend of those two victims.

The three pages as of midday Friday had raised a total of more than $85,000 via more than 1,500 donations.

All three children had head injuries. Two also underwent surgery Thursday for broken femurs, according to the crowdfunding pages.

Jillian Leach wrote that her 4-year-old niece, Juniper, was airlifted to a hospital with “significant head trauma” from the crash. As of Thursday, Juniper was in a pediatric intensive care unit and was intubated and on a ventilator, Leach wrote.

Juniper, a 4-year-old preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Juniper is being treated at a hospital for brain trauma.
Juniper, a 4-year-old preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Juniper is being treated at a hospital for brain trauma.

Krystle Najera-Bibbens set up GoFundMe pages for two boys she said are two of her son’s best friends: Jacory, age 5, and Axel.

Najera-Bibbens said the two boys have similar injuries: both suffered a fractured skull and broken femur. Axel also has a bruised liver.

Jacory, a 5-year-old preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Jacory is being treated at a hospital for a skull fracture and broken femur.
Jacory, a 5-year-old preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Jacory is being treated at a hospital for a skull fracture and broken femur.

Axel and Jacory each had successful surgery for their broken femurs on Thursday, Najera-Bibbens wrote. They will need additional surgery in about 6 months to remove pins and screws in their legs, she said.

Axel remains in a pediatric ICU but is “stable and awake,” his mother, Chelsea Ojeda, wrote in a Friday morning update on the GoFundMe page.

Axel, a preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Axel is being treated at a hospital for a skull fracture, broken femur and bruised liver.
Axel, a preschooler of Pine Top Montessori in Pollock Pines, was one of five children injured, three seriously, when a van struck preschoolers in a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail on Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023. Axel is being treated at a hospital for a skull fracture, broken femur and bruised liver.

The five injured children were students of Pine Top Montessori, which is on Pony Express Trail about two blocks east of Wednesday’s crash. The school serves children up to age 6 and offers infant, toddler and preschool programs, according to its website.

The preschoolers were on a walking field trip to a nearby park when they were hit by the van, according to the GoFundMe pages.

El Dorado Community Foundation

The El Dorado Community Foundation, a Placerville-based nonprofit that raises funds for a variety of organizations and causes, as well as for disaster relief in El Dorado County, on Thursday established a fund within its community resource fund to aid victims of what it called the “Pine Top Montessori Tragedy.”

The fund is accepting donations online or by mail. Those donating to the community resource fund should include a note of “Pine Top Montessori,” in the “additional information” field online or in the memo field of a check.

Checks should be mailed to the El Dorado Community Foundation at PO Box 1388, Placerville, CA, 95667.