Nearly $20,000 has been raised as of Tuesday to help a family devastated by a vehicle-versus-pedestrian collision in the unincorporated East Whittier area that fatally injured a toddler a day before her second birthday and left her father fighting for his life.
Robert Ferris was leading his daughter Harley by the hand across Santa Gertrudes Avenue, about a quarter-mile south of Leffingwell Road where there is no marked crosswalk, when they were both struck by a northbound 2015 Lexus sedan about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The child was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center in Orange at 11:10 a.m. Monday, the same day she turned 2, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.
Her 39-year-old father remains in critical condition at the same hospital, the CHP reported.
A GoFundMe page created to help the Whittier family pay funeral and medical expenses had raised $19,429 toward a goal of $50,000 as of mid-afternoon Tuesday.
The collision happened in a dimly lit area with two lanes in either direction and apartment buildings on either side of the street, according to reports from the scene.
The 39-year-old Whittier man driving the Lexus stopped at the scene and cooperated with investigators, and neither alcohol nor drugs were suspected as factors in the deadly collision, according to the CHP.
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