Three Jeanerette siblings are dead tonight and their family is in need of assistance for their loved ones' unexpected departure in a Friday night crash on Interstate 49 in St. Landry Parish.
Katie Derouen, the older sister of Lindy Rae Simmons ,20, Kamryn Simmons ,15, and Christopher Simmons ,17, created a GoFundMe account to assist her parents in this tragedy as Ray and Dawn Simmons lost their youngest three of nine children in a head-on collision as they returned from a basketball game in Monroe.
She begins, "I don’t know how to start or where to begin, or how to get through typing this. My name is Katie (Simmons) DeRouen. I am the 2nd of 9 children of Ray and Dawn Simmons. My parents are two of the most caring people to have as parents. They have dedicated and sacrificed so much, and then some, for us."
That night the family was driving home to Jeanerette with their mom, Dawn and girlfriend and friend, Marissa. Her brother Christopher played for Acadiana Christian School and for the first time in the school's history, they are undefeated.
While Lindy Rae was driving home in the southbound lane of I-49, an unexpected turn occurred in their travel, Lindy was involved in a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that was driving the wrong way, police say.
Derouen, goes on in her GoFundMe about the turn of events that December night while at a Christmas party.
She says, "My dad called me as I was at a Christmas party and told me “Mom got in a wreck. It’s not looking good, but she’s stable”. I flew to the hospital, crying along the way, thinking my mom was hurt but absolutely not thinking anything worse. When we arrived to LGMC, my brother, Shea and Dad were frantic as they just learned from Facebook that the accident involved two fatalities."
At that moment police knew the driver of the pick-up and Lindy Rae, the driver of the SUV, were the victims in the crash.
But as the night went on, the events unfolded differently for DeRouen and her family .
To help the Simmons family through this tragedy and to learn more about their story,click here.
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