Reported by: Shannon Kettler
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
A missionary family from South Dakota is spending this holiday at two local hospitals after a horrific car crash in Northern Kentucky.
The crash severely injured a father and his daughter along with destroying a trailer that held all their belongings.
The family of seven was on I-71 in Carroll County near the spot of the 1988 fatal school bus crash.
They were headed towards Kings Island to meet family when their trailer started to come undone.
"When the trailer starts to sway, it takes control of the vehicle and it took control of the Suburban and it started rolling us," said Lori Delange, mother of five.
"The Suburban and trailer snapped apart and the Suburban rolled for two more times and came to a stop," said Delange.
The crash caused Lori's husband Matthew and her 12-year-old daughter Haleigh to be thrown from the vehicle since the two were not wearing their seatbelts.
"When I got to her, she was not conscious and from this side, she had a gash in her forehead," said Delange as she pointed to her own head. "And this right here, was all open and it looked like the top part of her head was gone."
Air Care rushed Haleigh to Children's Hospital, and her dad to University Hospital, where both are still recovering from head injuries and broken bones.
The family also lost most of their belongings when the trailer crashed.
"We have a home in South Dakota, but when we travel, we are gone so much that we put all of our main stuff in our house so we lost quite a bit, yeah, we lost a lot," said Delange.
On Monday morning, the three children who survived the accident returned to the crash site.
In the grass they found one of their missionary fliers.
On Sunday night, Lori received a small miracle while at her husband's bedside.
"He finally opened his eyes, and that's very glorious because my husband and I never went to bed without saying, 'I love you,'" said Delange.
"And I hadn't heard his voice, and I still haven't heard his voice, but I see it in his eyes and that's good enough for me," said Delange.
Matthew and Haleigh Delange will eventually leave both hospitals for rehab.
So for now, the Delange family is taking it one day at a time.
A fund has been set up in Lori Delange's name and donations can be made at any Peoples Community Bank branch.
