DALLAS, Texas — More than $250,000 has been raised to help a Georgia man who was the sole survivor of a crash that killed six of his family members in Texas.
Lokesh Porthabuthula, of Alpharetta, was visiting family outside Dallas with his wife, son, daughter, mother-in-law and father-in-law when the family’s SUV was involved in a head-on crash on Dec. 26.
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Authorities said a Chevrolet truck tried to pass another car in the opposite lanes on U.S. 67, hitting the family’s Honda Odyssey head-on. Porthabuthula’s wife, Naveena (36); son, Kruthik (11); daughter, NishiDharaman, 9; father-in-law, Nageswararao Ponnada (64); mother-in-law, Sitamahalakhmi Ponnada (60); and cousin, Rushil Barri (28), were all killed. Barri was the driver of the Odyssey.
Porthabuthula survived the crash but remains in critical condition. The two people in the truck, identified as driver Luke Resecker and his passenger, Preston Glass, both 17, were also taken to the hospital in critical condition.
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Channel 2 Action News spoke with Barri’s roommate, Ayyappala Bandaru, who said Barri had invited his family from Atlanta and was showing them around Dallas when the accident happened.
“The final word I told him was ‘drive safe.’ And he did it. It was not his mistake,” Bandaru said.
Family members revealed on a GoFundMe that Porthabuthula has intestinal injuries and multiple broken bones, including in his spine. He’s had several surgeries and doctors said it will take months of medical treatment for him to recover.
The family is hoping to to help cover his medical expenses and also ship his family’s remains back to India for burial.
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“We are absolutely heartbroken by this unfortunate incident and having to ship the mortal remains back to India and plan a funeral service as well as taking care Lokesh’s medical expenses which are extremely overwhelming and the burden of medical bills ‚funeral expenses weighs heavily on Lokesh’s family,” family members wrote.
So far, the GoFundMe has raised more than $250,000. You can donate HERE.
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