Husband of woman killed by truck in Elgin asks for prayers for driver
The man whose wife was killed Monday night in Elgin when she was hit by a truck after pushing him to safety said he was thankful for people's prayers but asked for them to pray for the driver of the truck.
"I am so grateful for all prayers for us," Tim Polk wrote in a message shared by his friend Mike Lyp of Hampshire. "Please pray for the person that was driving the truck and please pray for the young lady my wife was comforting."
Polk and his 37-year-old wife, Katarzyna Kurek-Polk, of Elburn had pulled over on westbound Route 20 near McLean Boulevard in Elgin around 8:30 p.m. to offer help to a young driver who had crashed into a guardrail. As the three stood outside their cars, a truck, driven by a 43-year-old man, lost control. Katarzyna pushed her husband out of the way before being hit by the truck, the Kane County coroner said in a report this week. She was pronounced dead at Amita St. Joseph Hospital.
The Elgin Police Department has said the investigation is ongoing. The preliminary investigation suggested weather conditions contributed to the crash.
Lyp, who has served alongside Tim Polk at the "Helping Hands & Caring Hearts" ministry, said the Polks had been caring for two small dogs belonging to an Elgin homeless couple during the recent cold snap because the emergency shelter wouldn't allow animals. They had just dropped off the dogs and were driving home when they saw the young driver's crash and stopped to help.
"Obviously, the people that they are, they weren't going to just drive by," he said.
Lyp said he's known Polk for a couple of years and had met his wife four or five times.
"She was so amazing, so beautiful," he said. "Both of them are such giving people."
Lyp said that Polk's comments said all anyone needs to know to understand the kind of people they are.
"He lost his wife, yet he asks you to pray for the driver, pray for the girl that they helped," he said. "That's how humble they are. It sucks because I know Tim loves her to death."
Lyp said the couple were members at New Life Covenant Church in Elgin. During a Wednesday Bible study that was recorded and posted on the church's Facebook page, Pastor Abi Raices asked the congregation to keep "Brother Tim" and his family in their prayers.
"I've been heavy hearted the last couple of days just trying to understand the pain they're going through," Raices said. "To lose someone you love so much, and to have them so tragically taken from you is heartbreaking."