Desperate appeal for help after Delta woman injured in LA crash
Posted August 12, 2016 8:09 am.
Last Updated August 12, 2016 8:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LOS ANGELES, CA. (NEWS 1130) – Financial support is pouring in online for a Delta woman who was badly injured in a motorcycle crash in Los Angeles and she’s still in intensive care.
Tori Drews was riding with boyfriend Rich Dodds on Saturday when the two hit a car on Sunset Boulevard. Dodds was killed at the scene and Drews was rushed to the hospital.
“She’s a hard worker. She’s a fun-loving girl and her laugh is very contagious. We all just want her to wake up so we can hear it again,” says friend Makenzie Chilton, who started the GoFundMe campaign with a $75,000 goal.
More than 760 people have contributed more than $46,000 to that campaign as of Friday morning. “I’m really shocked in the amount of support we’ve gotten. A lot of it is from strangers. You can type in a message [online] and say, ‘Hey, I don’t know you but I ride too,’ so, there’s huge support through the motorcycle community,” adds Chilton.
She says both Drews and Dodds were huge motorcycle enthusiasts. “She’s an avid rider, she’s been riding for years. She doesn’t even have a car license, she only has that [motorcycle] license. She goes on road trips with events, big groups riding. She just got back from one of those in the States.”
The 26-year-old broke both legs, several ribs and cracked her pelvis in the crash. She also suffered liver damage that required surgery, internal bleeding and brain swelling.
Chilton says she does have insurance to cover much of that work but that the money raised will go towards her lengthy recovery including an eventual flight back to Delta.
According to the LA Times, a senior was driving a car in front of the pair and decided to make a sudden left turn, causing the bike to slam into the back of the vehicle. Police said the woman stayed at the accident scene and is cooperating.
