A mom and her two kids were on the way home from a dog training class Thursday evening when they were involved in a serious crash, leaving them in hospital with “extensive” injuries and killing their pet, a family member says.
Samantha Ritchie and her two children, eight-year-old Nixon and 12-year-old Rocquel, are trying to recover after the multi-vehicle collision that happened in the Airport Road and Clark Boulevard area of Brampton, Dana Doyle, Samantha’s cousin, said.
Peel Regional Police previously said the crash, which injured three others as well, involved a stolen pickup truck. The driver of that pickup allegedly fled the scene.
Doyle said Samantha and her kids were on the way home from a dog training class, stopped at a red light, when the crash happened.
Their rescue dog Finnegan was killed.
Doyle said Samantha is a single mom working to raise her two children. Doyle has now started a GoFundMe to try and help ease some of the financial pressures Samantha will face with the possibility of “months or years of rehab, home care, homeschooling, and other major expenses.”
Samantha’s injuries include a concussion, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken elbow and a broken cheekbone, Doyle said.
Nixon is in a medically induced coma with swelling in his brain and multiple fractures. Rocquel has received a blood transfusion and also has fractures.
Doyle said they have all undergone surgeries and more are expected.
Samantha hasn’t been able to see her children because she is at a different hospital, Doyle said, and Nixon and Rocquel don’t yet know their dog died.
“Sam is one of the kindest, most giving people — a special education teacher who is constantly giving back to her community, and lives for her kids,” Doyle said.
“Nothing can change the steep uphill climb that Sam and her kids are facing, but the GoFundMe could help relieve some of the financial pressures.”
Doyle said Samantha would be the first person to set up a fundraiser “if a loved one, friend, colleague or even a stranger ended up in the same position.”