A family of six is living out of a hotel after a teenage neighbor drove her mother’s car through the house.
Tina Humphrey was in her home in Speedway with her mother, husband and three of their four children when the car crashed through a bedroom. Humphrey’s 6-year-old son was in the room and suffered a concussion. Her 9-year-old son was injured by falling debris in the living room, where the ceiling and walls caved in. There were no deaths.
“It’s traumatizing,” Humphrey said. “It’s hurting us financially.”
The family still has to go back to the house to check for mail and start throwing things away. Every time they go the house now, Humphrey said, her children start crying and burying their heads.
The crash occurred Dec. 10.
The family started off in a hotel that cost $1,400 for the week, but that was unaffordable. They are now in a hotel that costs $770 for six days and will be there until at least Christmas Day. Humphrey said the property management company offered to help pay for a hotel, but the person in charge of that has been on vacation, so they’re paying out of pocket.
“I don’t know what to tell them,” Humphrey said of her children with Christmas coming up. “You can tell a child we’re having a hard time, but they don’t understand that.”
The family started a GoFundMe campaign.
A home camera caught the car crashing through the wall, followed immediately by screams. The three adults tried getting through the bedroom door, but it was blocked.
According to a crash report provided by Humphrey, a 13-year-old girl was waiting in the car for her mother when the vehicle “was somehow accidentally put into gear.” The girl was taken to the hospital with right knee pain.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Help the Humphreys
Anyone interested in helping the Humphrey family can donate to their GoFundMe campaign.
