Loved ones are mourning after a devastating wrong-way Fontana crash killed four people and left two others hospitalized on Jan. 14.
A fundraiser is being held this weekend to help the Plasencia family, who lost three family members in the crash — Jose Plasencia, 43, his daughter Mia, 16, and his son Ivan, 3.
Ivan, who was hospitalized in the ICU, died from his injuries on Friday, his family confirmed.
The only survivors of the crash are Angelica, 42, and her daughter Bianca, 5, who both remain hospitalized on Saturday.
Loves are holding a food sale fundraiser at an apartment building at 5981 Kingman Avenue in Buena Park all day from Jan. 21-22.
“I mean, right now, we don’t have words,” said Rosa Jimenez, Jose’s sister. “It’s really hard.”
The crash happened on the 210 Freeway, just east of Citrus Avenue around 6:34 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol.
Two vehicles were involved — a Ford sedan and a Lexus SUV. The sedan was driving the wrong way, traveling eastbound on the westbound lanes, said CHP.
As the sedan passed the Citrus Avenue exit, it slammed into the SUV head-on, which was carrying five members of the Plasencia family inside, authorities said.
The impact killed Jose and the unidentified 23-year-old wrong-way driver at the scene. Sixteen-year-old Mia later died at the hospital and 3-year-old Ivan died on Friday.
“I was hit by a wrong-way driver in 2020,” said Hilary Gonzalez, a family friend. “I was seven months pregnant with my first son. He didn’t make it. I woke up. Fourteen surgeries later, two broken legs, a broken hip. I can tell you from experience, it’s devastating what is happening to this family. The expenses, the costs. The community can just come out and support this family.”
The sole survivors, Angelica and Bianca, have a long road to recovery ahead. Angelica suffered multiple fractures and a broken collarbone and has undergone three surgeries.
Bianca suffered a broken leg and remains hospitalized but is expected to fully recover, said the family.
“We want to know why this person was going the wrong way on the freeway,” said Gonzalez. “Unfortunately, he [the suspect] lost his life and we want to know what we can do, what needs to be changed so that it doesn’t happen again.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help the family with funeral expenses.
“The magnitude of this loss cannot be understated,” said Alvina White, the campaign organizer. “This is a completely unexpected tragedy.”