This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The friends of an American Fork family involved in a car crash on Christmas Eve are putting together a fundraiser on Saturday to help pay for medical expenses.
Ryan and Kelly Pack were driving home from a Christmas party on Dec. 24 with their two sons, Finn, 3, and Colum, 18 months. The two parents and youngest child were critically injured after an SUV jumped a landscaped median and slammed head-on into their car. Colum Pack died from his injuries on Christmas Day.
Five childhood friends of Kelly Pack have arranged a yard sale and silent auction at the Jazz'n Place Dance Studio in Lehi from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m on Feb. 4.
A donor contributed several pieces of Utah Jazz memorabilia, including autographed Utah Jazz basketballs, jerseys, photos and tickets. The Utah Warriors rugby team is also providing several donations. Other items include restaurant gift cards, goodie platters, jewelry, art, home décor, salon baskets and more.
"It started out with the five of us, seeing what we had, and it blossomed into so many people wanting to donate," said Roni Nielsen, one of the organizers. "We've had businesses from big companies to mom-and-pop shops that have made huge donations and families who don't even know them."
Information about how to make donations is also available by visiting kellypack.com.
Kelly Pack is still hospitalized and unable to walk, and her husband, Ryan, is still in casts but is back home and walking with assistance.
Nielsen, along with her four friends — Laura Demille, Shannon Jorgensen, Leslie Wing and Lacey Yates — have known Kelly Pack since junior high. When they heard what happened, they knew they had to do something.
"If we had all the money in the world, it would be different, but we don't," Nielsen said.
The man who hit the Pack family in West Jordan was driving a vehicle that leaped a landscaped median, taking out trees and small boulders, and crashed directly into them. Kelly Pack wrote on her blog that the man told police he had been drinking the night before, but not that night. He also said he had dropped his cellphone and reached down to pick it up, according to her blog linked to http://www.kellypack.com.
West Jordan Sgt. Drew Sanders said they took blood samples to test the man for intoxication, but they may not get those results back for six to eight weeks. The man has not been charged, pending those results, he said.
Initially, the Pack family had been told the man, who is in his late 50s, had insurance. But they later found out he was uninsured, according to Kelly Pack's blog.
"I lost my security blanket that evening. This was a very dark hour for me. This is when I learned this man, who I believe to have been intoxicated, crashed into my family, killed my precious, sweet-as-honey baby, forever ruined our Christmases/my birthdays, almost killed Ryan, Finn &me and has almost destroyed our entire lives, he did this; yet it is ALL on our shoulders. We are likely to be in financial ruin," she posted.
But, she writes, it isn't having broken bones in every limb, undergoing a half-dozen surgeries, battling massive infections while hospitalized or even realizing that she and her husband are going to have to find a way to pay for it all that has been the hardest thing to deal with.
It's been the loss of her son, Colum.
"I want to smell him and run my fingers through his hair. I want to hear his stories as he points at nothing and jabbers away," she wrote. "I know him. I miss him. I want him back in my arms. Colum, I was so lucky to be your Mommy."
The goal of Saturday's event is to raise $2,000, Nielsen said, but she'll be happy with whatever they can garner.
"At this point, anything is going to help — whether it pays a mortgage payment or takes stress off them," she said. "I can't even imagine being in their position."
Twitter: @sheena5427 —
Pack Family fundraiser
When • Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where • Jazz'n Place Dance Studio, 400 S. Mill Pond Road, Suite C, Lehi
What • A silent auction and yard sale
Why • Raise donations for medical expenses incurred by the Pack family after an uninsured driver hit them on Christmas Eve, killing their youngest son
— Information about how to make donations is also available by visiting kellypack.com.