‘We are so grateful’: $300K raised for girl injured in crash involving Chiefs coach
A GoFundMe page for a young girl injured in a three-car crash involving a Chiefs coach has raised more than $300,000, far exceeding its initial goal of $45,000.
Since the GoFundMe was launched Saturday, donations have flooded in from more than 8,400 people hoping to help pay for the girl’s hospital bills and weeks of missed work for the child’s mother. As of 2:30 p.m. Monday, the total sat at nearly $340,000.
The girl, who was badly injured Thursday night in a crash near Arrowhead Stadium involving assistant linebackers coach Britt Reid, remains hospitalized and in critical condition with a brain injury, Kansas City police confirmed Sunday.
She still has not woken up, family wrote on the GoFundMe page the same day.
“Thank you to everyone who has donated to support the family through this hard time, we are so grateful,” organizer Tiffany Verhulst wrote in an update Sunday.
On Monday morning, Chief’s head coach Andy Reid was asked if he had spoken to Britt, his son, since the crash.
“I’ve had a chance to talk to him. Yeah, I have,” Andy Reid replied. “My heart goes out to the young lady. I’m also a dad, so I get that, so I have concerns obviously on both sides. Britt did have surgery; he’s doing better now. That little girl, my heart goes out to her.”
Reid’s comment echoed a similar statement he made after the Chief’s Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday evening.
“Listen, it’s a tough situation,” Reid said Sunday. “I can’t comment on it any more than what I am here, so the questions that you have, I’m going to have to turn those down at the time. But just from a human standpoint, man, my heart bleeds for everybody involved in that.”
The crash late last week happened after a Gray Chevrolet Impala ran out of gas and stopped on the southbound ramp from Stadium Drive to I-435, police said. The driver called his cousins for help. They parked their silver Chevrolet Traverse south of the Impala with their lights on.
Kansas City police said at about 9:10 p.m. Thursday, a pickup truck struck the Impala and then the Traverse on the side of an entrance ramp to get on Interstate 435 near the Chiefs practice facility.
The drivers of both the Impala and the Traverse and a front seat passenger were not injured, police said. A 4-year-old with injuries that were not life-threatening was taken to the hospital.
The 5-year-old was drifting in and out of consciousness when transported to the hospital, audio of police dispatches indicates.
The Star previously reported the pickup driver had injuries that were not life-threatening. According to a search warrant application obtained by The Star, Britt Reid, 35, was the driver of the pickup.
According to the application, a police officer at the scene of the crash said they could smell “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from (Reid)” and noticed his eyes were “bloodshot and red.” Reid allegedly told police he’d consumed two to three drinks sometime before the crash, according to the warrant.
While still at the crash scene, the officer conducted a brief seated battery of “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), which is a standardized field sobriety test.
Reid was taken to Research Medical Center after complaining about stomach pain. Once he arrived at the hospital, investigators collected four vials of blood from Reid, court records show.
The blood samples would determine the blood alcohol content and the presence of any controlled substances.
Reid also told the officer that he had a prescription for Adderall, according to an application for a search warrant. The drug is commonly used to treat persons with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The officer observed “four clues of impairment,” when he conducted another field sobriety test at the hospital, according to the search warrant application.
A computer check showed Reid has a valid Kansas operator’s license and multiple prior DUI contacts, according the warrant application.
On Monday, the Kansas City Police Department reiterated in a statement that the crash investigation could take weeks to complete, as investigators may need need toxicology, crash reconstruction results and interviews from witnesses.
“We cannot discuss this case specifically, as it is under investigation and we do not want to taint that in any way,” the department’s statement read. “We treat each case with respect regardless of who is involved.”
Once the investigation is completed, the case file will be presented to the Jackson County prosecutor who will determine whether criminal charges would be filed.
The Star’s Sam McDowell and Glenn Rice contributed.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
