Family of crash victim from Calexico speaks out
Days after the tragic incident, News 11 spoke to the sister of the woman who died as a result of a wrong-way driver.
It was Monday night when 30-year old Andrea Hernandez was on her way home from her bowling league.
Andrea’s sister, Aida Hernandez, said, “She didn’t drink alcohol. She didn’t do anything wrong. She had her seat belt on. She was just coming home to her six kids and it wasn’t fair.”
But Andrea didn’t get to see her children that night. The driver of a U-Haul speeding on Interstate 8 into oncoming traffic for six miles hit Andrea’s vehicle head-on. Both died at the scene.
Her mother, Leticia Rios, received the news that no mother wants to hear.
“They told me ‘sorry’. Then I knew that she was gone. I just knew I never was going to see her again,” said Rios.
Andrea was just about to embark on a new chapter in her life.
“She was going to get married. She had her date already. She was going to school. She was working so hard to pass her nursing program,” Aida added.
Her father, Richard Hernandez, remembers her as a loving mother who wanted to do better for her kids.
“She was trying to get up and keep going forward. You know with six kids, it’s hard. She said ‘I gotta make a future’ and I said, ‘you need to because your kids, you gotta pull them forward too’. She said ‘I know dad. That’s the reason why I’m going to school’,” said Hernandez.
The family is still looking for answers.
Daniela Vela Hernandez, Andrea’s sister-in-law, said, “It’s a tragedy and it’s not going to take away the loss that we have. There are so many questions that we search for those answers to those questions and we assume that it will bring us some peace and comfort but I doubt it will take away the pain that we feel for the loss of Andrea.”
The family will arrange funeral plans once Andrea’s body is released from the coroner’s office.
The Imperial Valley bowling league will donate proceeds from their “Striking It Rich” event to help the family with expenses.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help make ends meet and pay for future funeral expenses.
To make a donation to their page, click here.
