I am a road trip mom. I love packing a bunch of kids and bags in my car and driving somewhere fun. We go to parks, beaches, carnivals and amusement parks.
The snacks are everywhere, someone always needs to stop to pee, somebody has likely puked in a bag, and the kids are talking about their favorite part of the day—or fighting with each other because they’ve spent way too many hours together. Eventually, the excitement fades, the car gets quieter and maybe one or all of them falls asleep in the back seat.
Then you pull into the driveway, unload everybody and all their crap, and get them into the house and tucked into bed.
Another family adventure survived.
That’s how Saturday, August 29, should have ended for Amanda Wertman and the four children riding in her minivan.
Amanda, 41, was driving the kids home from a Pike County Girl Scout trip to Holiday World in Indiana. According to Indiana State Police, they were traveling along State Road 64 near Stendal when a Toyota Camry coming from the opposite direction crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into Amanda’s Toyota Sienna.
Amanda died at the scene.
Her 8-year-old daughter, Michaela, was rushed to a hospital in Louisville, where she later died.
The other three children survived, including Amanda’s 5-year-old son, Theodore.
They Had Absolutely Nothing to Do With Any of This
According to Indiana State Police, shortly before the crash, a Pike County sheriff’s deputy had been responding to an active domestic-violence call at a nearby gas station.
Police say a red Toyota Camry believed to be involved in the domestic incident drove away as the deputy approached. Investigators allege the Camry ran another driver off the road, failed to stop at a flashing red light and later crossed into the deputy’s lane in what police described as an apparent attempt to strike the deputy’s vehicle.
The deputy managed to avoid being hit, turned around and began pursuing the Camry.
A short time later, according to police, the Camry crossed the centerline again.
This time, Amanda’s minivan was coming the other way.
Amanda and those kids had nothing to do with the domestic incident or the chase.
They were simply coming home from a Girl Scout trip after spending the day at an amusement park. Just a completely normal ride home from a wild day with multiple kids.
Maybe the kids were talking about their favorite rides. Maybe they were asking how much longer until they got home. Maybe they were asleep in the back seat after a long day at Holiday World.
But every parent who has driven a car full of exhausted kids home after a long day knows that ride. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about it.
Until, in a matter of seconds, everything changed.
The Camry struck Amanda’s minivan head-on. The driver of the Camry died at the scene, as did Amanda. Michaela was transported to the hospital but could not be saved.
Four children had climbed into that minivan expecting to go home that night.
Only three survived.
Theodore Is Five Years Old
As stated above, Amanda’s 5-year-old son, Theodore, was one of those survivors.
According to 14 News, Theodore was hospitalized after the crash and his father, Simon, stepped away from work so he could remain with his son while he recovered.
And out of everything in this story, I think Theodore is the part that breaks my heart the most.
He’s five.
At five years old, your mom is still such an enormous part of your entire world. She’s the person you yell for when you wake up from a nightmare, the person you want when you fall and hurt yourself and the person who somehow knows exactly which cup you wanted even though you have twelve identical cups in the cabinet.
At five, you’re still little enough to fall asleep in the back seat and expect somebody else to get you safely where you’re going.
Theodore survived a crash serious enough to send him to the hospital, but his mom isn’t sitting beside his bed while he recovers.
His big sister isn’t coming to visit him either.
They’re both gone.
I don’t know what Theodore knows right now. I don’t know what Simon has told him, when he told him or what a five-year-old can possibly understand about something this enormous.
All we really know is that at some point Theodore will leave that hospital and go back into a world that looks completely different from the one he knew when he climbed into his mom’s minivan for a Girl Scout trip.
And somehow Simon has to navigate all of that while grieving his wife and daughter, caring for his injured son, dealing with doctors, funeral arrangements and bills, and figuring out what life is supposed to look like now. The enormity of that is unimaginable.
Michaela Was Only Eight
Michaela Wertman was eight years old.
My youngest son will be eight next month. Eight is so young. My son still thinks you can’t see him if he covers his eyes. My son’s world is made up entirely of his family, home and school.
Eight is Girl Scouts and amusement parks. It’s school projects and best friends and birthday parties. It’s being old enough to want independence but still young enough to need your parents for practically everything that actually matters.
Michaela should have gone back to school after her Girl Scout trip and told her friends about Holiday World.
Instead, her school is now helping children process the death of their 8-year-old classmate.
There should have been another Girl Scout trip for Michaela. Another school year. Another birthday. Another Christmas morning. There should have been arguments with her little brother and family vacations and embarrassing pictures her parents pulled out when she got older.
There should have been so much more life.
Instead, Michaela died on the same night her mother did because their minivan happened to be traveling down the road at the exact moment another vehicle crossed into their lane.
There Were Other Little Girls in That Minivan
The Wertmans aren’t the only family whose life changed that night.
Eight-year-old Oaklie Disney was also riding in Amanda’s minivan.
According to 14 News, Oaklie was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Louisville after suffering brain bleeds in the crash. Her school, Otwell Miller Academy, described her as a sweet and spunky third grader.
Blue is Oaklie’s favorite color, so on Monday, children and teachers showed up to school wearing blue for her. Students made cards to send to her while she recovered in the hospital.
An 8-year-old girl is lying in a hospital after surviving a crash that killed her friend and her friend’s mother, and back at school, a bunch of little kids are doing one of the only things they can think of to help.
Another child in the minivan, Amelia, was also airlifted to Kentucky for treatment.
And thankfully, there is finally some good news in this story.
According to the latest Indiana State Police update, Theodore, Oaklie and Amelia are all expected to recover.
Three children survived.
Now three families have to help them heal.
So, How Can You Help?
This time, there are several ways to help.
14 News has independently identified fundraisers for Theodore, Oaklie and Amelia, which is important because I don’t want to send anyone to a random GoFundMe just because somebody attached a victim’s name to it.
Theodore’s cousin, Genny Rowe, created a fundraiser for Theodore and his father, Simon. According to the fundraiser, the money will help with Theodore’s hospital bills and give Simon some financial breathing room while he remains away from work to be with his son.
And maybe that’s what donating does here.
It obviously can’t fix this.
But money can buy time.
It can mean Simon doesn’t have to rush back to work while his 5-year-old is recovering. It can pay a hospital bill. It can cover groceries, gas or whatever completely mundane expense still shows up even when your entire life has just fallen apart.
Oaklie’s family also has a verified fundraiser to help with medical and travel expenses while she recovers, and Amelia’s family has established one following her hospitalization.
If you can afford to donate, there are three families who could use the help.
If you can’t donate, you can share their fundraisers.
Support Theodore Wertman, age 5: Organized by his cousin Genny Rowe to help with Theodore’s hospital bills and support his father Simon while he is out of work.
Support Oaklie Disney, age 8: Organized by Jordynn Neese and co-organized by Oaklie’s mother, Elizabeth Disney. It is intended to help with medical bills, travel, lodging and lost income while her family remains with her.
Support Amelia: Organized by her aunt Cierrah Freeland on behalf of beneficiary Tasha Freeland. The campaign says funds go directly to Amelia’s family for medical expenses, travel, lodging and other recovery costs.
And if you want to do something ridiculously simple, wear blue.
Tell somebody why you’re wearing it so that her family may learn that there are strangers out there hoping she gets better.
Amanda was supposed to bring four tired kids home from a Girl Scout trip. They were supposed to pull into a driveway, gather up whatever crap they had accumulated during the day and go inside.
I’m guessing I’m not the only parent who has driven a car full of kids down the highway and suddenly imagined all the horrible things that could go wrong. A tire flying off another car. Someone crossing the centerline. One person making one terrible decision that you have absolutely no control over.
So far, I’ve been lucky.
After all of those road trips, I’ve gotten to pull into my driveway. I’ve gotten to wake up the sleeping kid, gather the trash and bags and half-empty water bottles, and complain that nobody is helping me carry anything inside.
Amanda and those kids didn’t get to pull into the driveway.
So maybe today’s Good Deed is helping the families of this poor little crew deal with everything that came after the ride home they never got to finish.