GoFundMe pages have been set up for two women killed in an East County freeway crash and a 6-year-old girl seriously injured in that same crash.
Both were in a Chevrolet Aveo when it was struck Wednesday afternoon by an out-of-control big rig on the transition ramp from northbound state Route 125 to eastbound Interstate 8 in La Mesa.
It features pictures of Thompson-Campbell and her family, and reads, “Jenn was a beautiful and loving woman with an amazing spirit and she was just eight days away from her 30th birthday.”
Their GoFund me page has raised $3,800 as of Friday. Both Bauerlein and Thompson-Campbell worked at Naval Air Station North Island and lived down the road from each other in Ramona.
The other page is set up for Kristina Andarus, who suffered major injuries in the series of collisions. Her mother, who had been driving an SUV that also was struck, told reporters her daughter might be paralyzed.
“My baby, she’s not doing OK,” Aneta Andarus told FOX5. “Her spine is damaged. She may not walk anymore.”
So far, efforts on Kristina’s behalf have raised nearly $2,000. Sasha Sanchez wrote on the page: “Please help me continue to fight for Kristina alongside her and her family.”
The Go Fund Me page for the Campbell Family is https://www.gofundme.com/CampbellFamilySupport; Kristina’s is https://www.gofundme.com/4862zhs.
The crash, which left four other people injured, occurred when the driver of a Freightliner tractor-trailer suddenly swerved to her left for unknown reasons while traveling on the transition road from westbound I-8 to southbound SR-125, the California Highway Patrol said.
The cargo vehicle crashed through a metal guardrail, crossed the northbound lanes of SR-125 and plowed through a concrete divider before colliding with the Aveo on the adjacent connector. Both vehicles then crashed into a Kia Sorento, after which the big rig came to rest jackknifed across the transition road. Bauerlein, who was behind the wheel of the compact car, died at the scene, according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
Her passenger, identified by a relative as Thompson-Campbell, was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. A backseat passenger in the Sorento, Kristina apparently had not been properly restrained in the vehicle, the CHP reported.
The woman’s mother, who had been riding next to her in the Sorento, was left with a broken leg.
The 34-year-old driver the tractor-trailer and a 41-year-old man riding in it were treated at a trauma center for moderately serious injuries. The names of the two — both residents of Marietta, Georgia — have not been released.
Investigators, who do not believe the trucker was intoxicated at the time of the crash, expect to take weeks or months to reach a final determination on the cause of the accident and whether the commercial driver might face any charges for her involvement in it, according to the CHP.
–City News Service
