BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — An 11-year-old boy who was killed in a crash Tuesday afternoon on US-27 in Broward County was identified by his relatives as Ronald Walker.
After a crash claimed the life of his son, his father, Ronald Walker Sr. is doing his best to keep it together.
“I just kinda broke down. He was the only one that passed out of everybody so that’s a hurting feeling for me and I can’t even swallow that pill right now,” Walker said.
“My daughter, right now, is going through so much,” Gwendolyn Lundy told Local 10 News reporter Saira Anwer over the phone on Wednesday.
Lundy said her daughter, Paula Harper, was one of the adults injured in the crash that occurred around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday in the northbound lanes of the highway in northern Broward County, near the Palm Beach County line. The other adult was her daughter’s half-sister.
Lundy’s three other grandchildren were badly injured, but are expected to recover along with the other crash victims.
Lundy said she had to break the news of her grandson’s death to her daughter, the child’s mother.
“Last night, when they released her, all she could say was, ‘I want my son. I want my son,’” Lundy said.
The women and children were inside a Nissan sedan that was struck by a tractor-trailer while stopped on the side of US-27.
Family members said the car was broken down on the side of the highway, and the women were calling AAA when the tractor-trailer slammed into the back of their car.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said nine people were riding in the car at the time of the crash -- the two sisters and their seven children.
Sky 10 was over the scene as the victims were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Five of the injured victims were airlifted to Broward Health Medical Center, including three of the children.
Ronald was pronounced dead at the hospital, a heartbreaking moment for a mother recovering from injuries of her own.
“She’s devastated,” Lundy said. “She’s in shock. I had to let her know, even though she was under anesthesia, that her son passed away.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Harper with her son’s funeral expenses.
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