Support and Recovery Fund: Mizzou Club Swimmers
Donation protected
On Friday, September 29th, Mizzou Club Swim was traveling to compete at a swim meet at Ohio State. That night the final car carrying 4 freshmen from Mizzou, Weston Hemmerling, Sarah Tague, Anja Dangelmaier, and John Costello, was caught up in an accident involving a semi-tanker carrying ammonia gas. The accident resulted in a hole being torn in the side of the tanker which released thousands of gallons of ammonia gas into the surrounding area. Although the students were not directly involved in the truck crash, they were still caught up in the horrible aftermath. The 4 students who had witnessed this immediately got out of the car and ran in an attempt to protect themselves from the harmful gas spilling out into the air. As they all ran in different directions they ended up falling into ditches on the side of the road where they remained until being found by EMS. Weston was found by EMS first and rushed to the hospital; before the others were found EMS had to wait for hazmat teams to show as the chemical cloud was too strong and dangerous. Sarah, Anja, and John were then airlifted to the hospital.
From roughly 10pm to 3am the families and loved ones of these 4 all experienced pain and stress that can never be forgotten as they waited to hear about their children and their condition. The purpose of this GoFundMe is to attempt to assist in lightening the financial burden that these 4 families are currently facing so they can focus on the health and well-being of their children. The students involved are all receiving medical care for the injuries sustained from the incident.
We hope that everyone will be understanding during these times and keep them in their thoughts and respect their privacy. This GoFundMe has been put together by the MUCS executive board as the swimmers affected were part of our team. The funds raised through this GoFundMe will be split 4 ways between the families to use in ways they see best fit for the situation they are in, whether it be for current needs like hotel expenses and food, or to cover the large hospital bills they will ultimately be left with.
- Mizzou Club Swim
Below is a link containing more details of the incident:
Organizer
Ryan Huseman
Organizer
Columbia, MO