Kansas teacher’s face was ‘pulverized’ in accident on way to Grand Canyon: GoFundMe
A campaign for medical bills has been created on the fundraising platform GoFundMe for a Kansas teacher who was severely injured while changing a tire on a camping trailer last week as he and his wife were beginning a cross-country road trip to the Grand Canyon.
Family of Jeff Eckelberry, a schoolteacher at Susan B. Anthony Middle School in Manhattan, say he is being treated in the Overland Park Regional Medical Center after his “facial bones were largely pulverized,” according to the webpage. By Thursday night, the fundraiser had pulled in more than $22,000.
The accident happened on May 28 near Eudora, Kansas, on the Kansas 10 highway, authorities reported. Eckelberry was changing a blown tire on the shoulder of the highway when the trailer collapsed on his head, pinning him underneath.
Eudora police shared a dashcam video on social media, which has since been taken down, with the trailer leaning on its passenger side as one officer is trying to push it up. He is joined by other officers who are eventually able to lift the trailer high enough for Eckelberry to be pulled out from underneath, the video showed.
On the fundraiser page, Eckelberry’s family said he spent four days in the intensive care unit before reconstructive surgery on his face. His facial bones were described as having been broken into “a million pieces,’‘ the webpage said. He also suffered a slight brain hemorrhage and a broken arm.
Eckelberry was beginning a trip to the Grand Canyon with his wife, Joyce, who was also credited by family for “quick thinking and brave actions” at the scene of the accident.
“Jeff still has a long road ahead of him with recovery,” the page says. “The only reason we have made it this far is from the tireless work of the emergency personnel on the scene and the trauma team at Overland Park Medical Center.”
Family is hoping the fundraiser will alleviate the stress of large medical bills for Eckelberry’s treatment and expected costs to come through rehabilitation and therapy, the webpage says.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 10:04 PM.
