LAFAYETTE, Colo. (KDVR) — Friends and community members are rallying around a Commerce City couple recovering from serious injuries after their car was hit head-on last week.
Jesika and Shawn Ortiz have spent the past week in the hospital following the crash, which happened at the intersection of East 120th Avenue and Sable Boulevard on Sept. 30. The couple was driving home from their daughter’s high school softball game when their car was hit by a GMC Sierra.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, the driver of the GMC Sierra rear-ended another vehicle before colliding with the Ortiz’s car. The driver of the Sierra died at the scene, and a child in the vehicle suffered minor injuries.
The night of the crash, Jesika Ortiz underwent emergency surgery for lacerations to her small intestines and a fractured vertebra. She is expected to be released from the hospital in the coming days, but says it will likely be months before she’s back on her feet and ready to work.
“They ended up removing, I think they said, 100 centimeters of my small intestines,” Jesika said. “I was on a vent for a good portion of the night and part of the next morning. I wasn’t able to eat or drink for five days.”
In a room next door at Good Samaritan Hospital, her husband, Shawn, is recovering from a fractured pelvis and torn chest cartilage. He is expected to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility this week to continue recovery.
“I just remember holding my wife and trying to breathe, while I believe they were cutting me out of the car,” Shawn said.
Despite their long road to recovery, the couple says the outpouring of support from friends and neighbors has kept their spirits up.
“Just to know how many friends you have out there and how much they care about your family, especially the well-being of your kids, knowing that we’re not going to be able to be there for them face-to-face for the next few weeks,” Shawn said.
The Ortiz family is well-known in their community for hosting events through their local church and staying involved with neighbors. In return, that community is stepping up, providing nightly meals for their two children and raising nearly $4,000 in an ongoing fundraiser to help cover expenses while the couple is unable to work.
“Seeing it come like this has been really heartwarming,” Jesika said. “It’s amazing and that they care for our kids just as much as we do.”
And it’s not just financial support, the couple says their friends have been attending their kids events like concerts and softball games so the Ortiz’s can watch on video from their hospital beds.
And from her hospital bed, Jesika is calling on community leaders to make the intersection of Sable Boulevard and E. 120th Avenue safer for drivers.
“It’s a dangerous intersection,” Jessica said. “There’s already one fatality… one is too many when it comes to that.”
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe here.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
