Five Mundelein family members hurt in crash that killed patriarch remain in three hospitals
Days after a crash claimed the life of the Calderon family patriarch and injured five family members, several remain stable in the hospital, according to a relative.
Jessica Arteaga said seven members of her family - two nephews, two sisters, one brother and her parents - were in a GMC Envoy SUV when the crash happened Sunday night at the intersection of Route 45 and Rollins Road near Gurnee.
"Our lives were changed forever," Jessica Arteaga wrote on an online fundraiser she started after the crash.
Arteaga said her family members who were injured are all stable at three different hospitals.
"We continue to push through and take things one moment at a time," Arteaga said.
Officials said the crash happened Sunday around 6:40 p.m. when the driver of the SUV tried to make a left turn onto Route 45 from Rollins Road while the light was yellow. The SUV was struck by an eastbound Ford pickup truck.
Joaquin Calderon, 62, of Mundelein was sitting in the front passenger seat near where the pickup truck struck the SUV and was killed on impact, his daughter said.
"My dad was the life of the party and if you ever met him you'd feel his humbleness in his voice," Arteaga wrote. "He loved deeply and always put everything and everyone before himself."
Artega said her two sisters, mom and her 5-year-old nephew received treatment at hospitals and had undergone surgery. She said days later her 2-year-old nephew also was treated at a hospital after it was discovered he had injured his leg in the crash.
Lake County crash investigators were not available to verify Arteaga's updates or provide any others Wednesday. The crash involving the Calderon family is one of four recent fatal crashes in the county.
Officials initially said the children were sitting on the laps of adults in the back seat of the SUV and not all were wearing seat belts.
Joaquin Calderon's body did not have an injury that suggested he was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, either, said Lake County coroner's office Chief Deputy Stephen Newton.
"Seat belts reduce the chance of serious crash-related injuries and death," Newton said. "You are much more likely to survive staying inside a vehicle than you are being thrown out of it."
The 22-year-old driver of the pickup was treated and released at the scene, but two passengers were taken to Lake Forest Hospital with injuries that were weren't considered to be life-threatening, officials said Monday. No update on the condition of the pickup passengers was provided by the officials investigating the crash Wednesday.
To donate to the online fundraiser for the Calderon family, which has raised more than $3,300 thus far, visit gofundme.com/f/joaquin-calderon-and-family.