WALWORTH COUNTY -- Carlos Venegas, his wife Maria, and their 2-year-old son Carlos were killed when their pick-up truck collided with a semi at Town Hall Road and Highway K in the town of Sharon Saturday.
Carlos and Maria’s 6-year-old daughter, Giselle, is the only one in the family who survived the crash. She arrived at Children’s Hospital in critical condition. But as of Tuesday, we’re told she has started responding to family and doctors.
“We’ve been praying together,” says Father Mike Dineen, a priest at St. Andrew Parish and School.
“We had many sessions today with all the children, making sure that they understood as much as they can,” he says. “They came and expressed their thoughts. They’re wondering how this could happen. Everyone is very, very sad. Giselle is the spark of life in the classroom. They miss her. They want her to get well.”
Giselle, her parents, and baby brother, were on their way to a family wedding when the crash happened. Father Mike was at that wedding. It was there that everyone got word of the accident.
“It was very, very difficult for the family,” he says. “It was just one of those things that you can never believe would happen.”
Everyone is now focusing on Giselle’s recovery. More than $10,000 has been raised to help with her medical bills, and the family’s funeral costs.
A GoFundMe Page has been set up here. A visitation and funeral mass will take place this Friday at St. Andrew Church in Delavan.
The crash is still under investigation. The semi-truck driver from Elkhorn, and his passenger were hospitalized but are going to be okay. A GMC Envoy was also involved in the accident. A woman in that car from Rockford, Ill. was killed. Her husband is still in critical condition.
