A GoFundMe page has been created for the man who was struck by a vehicle on Bancroft Rd. in Walnut Creek last Friday.
Information on the man, his injuries, and the crash were included in the description on the GoFundMe page, which we have included below:
Tommy is a 20-year-old young man from Mongolia who was brought to America by his family due to a disability in his arm seeking help from American doctors.
He is extremely bright, extremely loving, and one to never let his disability control his life. Tommy has a job from which he completely supports his college education, as well he supports his single sister and her child in Mongolia.
Tommy is a highly-skilled chess player a computer genius. He helps his mother and father out financially where he can, he is the type of kid that would carry the groceries in for your mom if he was walking past your house.
On Friday morning at 11 a.m. while riding his bike to work , Tommy was struck by a car that had ran a red light on Bancroft Avenue in Walnut Creek.
Tommy was hit so hard the windshield and top of the car were destroyed. Tommy suffered a major brain injury as well as many broken bones and lacerations to his body. He was was non-responsive when the paramedics arrived and using CPR the paramedics were able to revive him and find a heartbeat.
Quickly he was rushed to John Muir medical center he was placed on life support. A good portion of his scalp and skull had to be removed to allow for the swelling of the brain which can exceed 3″ from outside his head.
By the Will and Grace of God his body began to fight and he was able to be taken off life support yesterday evening.
While he is currently in a coma, the hand of God is healing him. With the permission of his mother we have started this GoFundMe account to help the family in this horrific tragedy.
Anything you can do to help this family in their time of need would be greatly appreciated. His mom Aggie and Father Chim remain at the hospital in prayer at his bedside.
Please send your best wishes and prayers to this family and any monetary help would greatly greatly be appreciated.
To visit the GoFundMe page, please click ON THIS LINK.
photo & information: courtesy of GoFundMe/Shaun Barone
Sending healing prayers 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Heart-breaking, praying for a miracle here.
i just wanted to say i am so sorry to hear of this tragic accident
i once was in a coma for 28 days at john muir they are the best and i wish you all the luck in the world in pulling through xoxo
Him and his family are in my prayers. Used to work with him & he is so generous and caring of others. So sad to hear about this
This tragedy should be a wake up call for the city to trim their trees back from the stoplights. I notice you cannot see two of the lights and some people focus on the ones ahead that can be green. I also feel for the woman that hit him as the sun can be blinding at certain hours. being a long time resident you may be aware of this problem, but others may not.
May Tommy heal completely and may others learn from this and BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS..
Too many run red lights l see it all the time. Possible this driver has an excuse, but when Claycord first published this story, a witness said the driver was going fast. If the sun is blinding you or you can’t see the lights slow down. San Jose Mercury news wrote about this incident few days ago. Saying he was still in critical condition.
This poor kid & his family. Thank you for posting, hopefully they can raise some money to take pressure off so they can focus on caring for their child ‘ each other
I can help a bit and will. Kid like that should know his community has his back. Please keep us informed of his progress, I don’t pray, so hopefully cash will do.
Prayers and Vibes being sent for this precious young man <3
I’m saddened by this story. But I’m also angered by the fact that commenters here would offer excuses for the driver and possible conditions. Trees? Sun? Really? Motorists: please slow down and be aware of pedestrians and bicyclists. Please see us. Please understand that speed is the number one determinant to severity of injuries. I will keep Tommy and his family in my prayers.
Laura dear,
Have you never run a red light? Have you never been in a hurry?
Have you ever not seen pedestrians in the bright sun or overgrown trees? Hail Laura the Saint!
Pedestrians/cyclists need to use caution too, and not just speed out on a green. The life you save may be your own..
@Aunt “B”
At 56 I can say I have never run a red light and no that does not make me a Saint. Most people are in a hurry but does that make running red lights excusable?? Hail No! This red light runner was north bound on Bancroft at 11AM, ZERO blinding sun light remotely possible. And low hanging trees huh…? Perhaps a fallen tree could block such view!!?
Wake up B ~
You are so correct. When you are in that intersection always drive slowly. I feel for this family’s pain. Have common sense folks. I think most of the drivers CCcounty drive way too fast and do not care about anybody else but themselves. Me first syndrome. I just read Aunt Barbara. What an insensitive remark and not true. I am very very careful and always have had been. Laura is not sounding like she is a saint Dear Barbara. She sounds intelligent and cautious. We need more Laura’s like that.
@ Laura N
Bicyclists are suppose to follow the rules of the road just as much as drivers are. Too many times bicyclists just ride however they want. I am not saying this kid is at fault as I do not know the situation, but drivers are never going to slow down. Therefore people out biking and walking must be more diligent as they are the ones they will likely end up seriously injured or even dead.
To all the bitter naysayers,
FYI… The City has (Davey Tree) trimming those blocking trees back today!
Unfortunately, as more and more high density housing is squeezed in walnut creek and the roads become more clogged with cars, lights take longer to get through and people still think they can get from point a to point b in ten minutes instead of the thirty minutes it now takes, I see this happening more and more. It wasn’t that long ago that you could get down Bancroft at 3 pm from Ygnacio to Treat in a minute, now it can take 10 minutes because the traffic is so backed up at Treat. All those apartments they keep building by pleasant hill BART has added a lot more cars on the road, contrary to what people think, the majority of the people living near pleasant hill BART, don’t use Bart (there was a study done on this not long ago). Other than more pedestrian overpasses over busy roads I don’t know what the answer is, everyone is in a rush. Separate trail crossings (just the trail, not also serving as a cross street signal) are the worst. I’ve had close calls both on Bancroft and Oak Grove canal trail crossings. I suppose one day my luck will run out.
My Prayers to Tommy and his Family.
Hopefully the driver of the car running the red light is well insured, and will be able to cover most of Tommy’s medical bills and recovery. It would be the right thing to do, to help Tommy get back on his feet and for the Family.
Hope Claycord keeps us posted on Tommy.
I hope this young man is healing. And the person responsible for hitting him will be paying for this mentally and monetarily. And hopefully have her license taken away.
Sorry “Aunt Barbara” there is NO, NO, NO, excuse for running a red light.
I cannot say how horrified I am to learn this news. Tommy is my neighbor, and he is such a sweet young man. May God’s love and grace help pull him through this.
My God, I hope I’m not on the road when Aunt Barbara is behind the wheel! This poor young man is in a coma and she is making excuses for running red lights!?!! And feeling sympathy for the driver? It’s this kind of attitude among drivers that makes our roads so dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians, not to mention other drivers. (1.25 million people die in traffic accidents EVERY YEAR). I’ve been through this intersection many times and the lights are visible just fine if you are paying attention and are not speeding and/or distracted (cell phone, kids, eating…). Was this the driver’s first time through here? If not she was certainly aware there was a crossing here!! This is not an accident!!!
Yes, for our own safety, cyclists and pedestrians do indeed need to be careful and unfortunately never assume that cars actually stop at stop signs or traffic lights. But this was in no pert this poor man’s fault, and comments like Aunt Barbara’s showcase why many don’t feel safe out there.
Wow. I didn’t get that from Aunt Barbara’s comment at all. She seems to be saying we are all human and sometimes, in spite of our very best efforts, accidents happen. Before you crucify the driver, maybe you all need to think about the last time you had an accident, of any kind. Was it intentional? No. That’s why they call it an accident.
Aunt B and GiddyYAP, this “accident” wouldn’t have happened if the woman in the BMW wasn’t breaking the law. Red light means STOP.
@JJ So, basically you’re saying she ran the light intentionally to hit him. Is that correct, because that is what you seem to be implying? Let’s see, … if so, how amazing that you got inside her head to determine her cruel and criminal notions.
@ Gittyup
Thanks for taking the time to actually read my comments correctly. Sometimes I wonder if some trolls are just looking for people to lash out at because they have reading comprehension difficulties.Unfortunately, Karma may bite them in the butt.
Wishing you a happy safe day!
Read them very carefully, Aunt Barbara. You are making excuses for someone that broke the law and nearly killed someone. The light was visible. The light was red. And the sun was not blinding at 11am.
@Aunt Barbara You’re welcome. They seem to be assuming she knew the signal was red, saw him in the crosswalk, and drove through the intersection, anyway. Like he was in her way! Mind boggling!
This is a horrible tragedy – to be hit by a 3,000 pound car by someone who was not paying attention to driving. Even worse, that some try to excuse the negligence when they were not there… or were they?
Running a red light, accidentally, is horrible (I haven’t in 40+ years of driving and will not be applying for saint-hood). If the driver who caused the current event lives in the area, knows this pedestrian/bike trail crossing exists and was driving in excess of the speed limit – its even worse. If this driver fixated on something other than the visible traffic signal lights of the trail crossing, was in a hurry, was blinded by the sun or was otherwise not able to SAFELY navigate their vehicle through that area, then they *should* have SLOWED the vehicle. If the driver could not see, then slowing or stopping is the correct response. If the driver was distracted (using a cell phone – not handsfree, texting, shaving, putting on makeup, eating, etc.), then there is a much different problem.
In either case, this was no “accident”, but it was driver negligence because they were NOT focused on driving safely. An “accident” is when things happen outside one’s control… like a 30 pound chunk of ice falls from the sky, hits your car causing you to lose control of the vehicle (fill in whatever you want to happen after vehicle control is lost).
Aunt Barbara and Gittyup attempt to absolve the driver of guilt and that is not appropriate – taking this to the next step, it would seem both would not fault a driver who hurts or kills people because of DUIs, use of hand-held phones when driving, texting while driving and pretty much anything else that is a distraction… under the guise of “but it was an accident, they did not kill/injure others on purpose, it is OK – and they probably feel bad about it” (none of these are OK, feeling bad about it does not help the injured) and “everyone’s done it” (when clearly, everyone has not).
Running a red light is against the law. The reason it is against the law is bad things happen when drivers go through red lights. This event is a good example of this simple observation and easily identifies the root cause. There is NO amount of rationalization or justification to determine that this law was not broken. There is nothing to fault but the driver. Any attempt to blame the victim is baseless. Any attempt to blame anything but the root cause – the driver – is misguided and bizarre.
This is the “blame someone else – not the root cause” mentality that has contributed to many of the ills of our current society.
At a MINIMUM, the negligent driver who caused this horrific event (whether “accidentally” or due to negligence) should be funding Tommy’s medical bills. This may not be a legal requirement, but it is the correct thing to do. The driver needs to take responsibility for their actions, deal with the consequences, put on their big-boy pants, step up and do the right thing.
I hope Tommy has a speedy and complete recovery.
@This Time With Feeling Perhaps the driver was rattled by the thought of a heavily armed man immediately behind her who hates people who “park in the fast lane.” Hindsight is 2020, and I see yours is excellent. No doubt the driver’s insurance will cover the child’s medical expenses, and, of course, we all hope for his complete recovery.
Sorry. Claiming it wasn’t an accident implies intent. So you’d need to prove that the driver intended to hit the pedestrian. Two things can be true at once, and negligence can sometimes result in an accident. To be clear, sometimes there is blame to be placed for an accident, such as in this case, and sometimes there is nobody to blame.
I agree running a red light is rarely something that should be excused, certainly being in a hurry is not an excuse EVER. If you are blinded by sun or visibility is low you drive slow. If you drive slow you have a better chance of seeing someone and need less time to come to a stop. This should be self evident, and also self preservation. I would hate to have live with the thought that l killed or injured someone just because l was in a hurry.
@Aunt Barbara and @gittyup
Please go back and re-read what you wrote today.
And REALLY think about it.
@JJ
“To err is human, to forgive divine.” A. Pope I don’t need to think about it. The woman made a mistake. I’d venture to say she doesn’t make that one ever, again. Have you never made a mistake? Have you never dropped something, or tripped, or bumped the curb a little too hard, or run a red light …. accidentally?
I am unable to get the Go Fund Me link to open for Tommy. Can you please give us more information so we can access it? Thank you.
I put that link below Gail. If you have a popup blocker see if you can disable. You can also just type http://www.gofundme.com and then search “Tommy is in a coma”. Macabre as that sounds.
https://tinyurl.com/yy35ka2s
You are “innocent until proven guilty in a court of law” in our system of jutisprudence. With virtually no solid, irrefutable details about the accident, many of you are acting as judge, jury, and executioner. I certainly hope you are never called to sit on a jury. You have already come to a decision without ever hearing the evidence..
To Aunt Barbara, you sound like a bitter, horrible person. No one on here is a Saint.
@Cyn Oh, now that’s original!
Last night leaving RoundTable at Treat/Oak Grove a motorist could not wait for me and my 5 year old to cross the parking lot to our parking space. Instead of waiting they drove around us and missed me by a few feet.
If you are a motorist and at fault for hitting a pedestrian or bicyclist your license should be suspended for a year. Gone are the days you must have your own car to survive plenty of alternatives…rideshare or take the bus.
Our society does a horrible job holding motorists accountable for the damage they do behind the wheel.
Karma, @Aunt Barbara? Seriously?!? I’m trying to speak on behalf of a young man brutally and probably irreversibly injured by a driver that ran a red light. My conscience is 100% clear. Do we know all the facts, @Gittyup. No, but what we do know is that the cyclist was in the crosswalk on a green light and the driver ran a red with enough speed that the impact totaled the front of her car.
Karma? I’m good. It’s the bad-driver apologists that need to be concerned. They are part of the problem and are complicit.
“You run a red light – you pay the consequences.” Unfortunately others often pay the price. See Tommy above. And maybe kick in a few bucks.