Friends and members of the community are pitching in to help a local family get back on their feet after losing their home and car to a tragic accident.
On Dec. 29, Kendall Yeager, her fiancé, Randy Scanlon, and their children were enjoying time together and a late night snack when a car crashed through the side of their home, into their kitchen.
Scanlon was in the kitchen with their 4-year-old daughter, Kaelynn, making sandwiches when the crash occurred.
“There was no warning. There were no brake lights, no tires screeching, no horn,” Yeager said. “We were all doing activities and the next minute there was a gigantic thud and crash. I heard Randy screaming for Kaelynn and she was buried under debris.”
With only seconds to react, Scanlon had pulled Kaelyn from the stool she was sitting on down to the floor, trying to shield her from flying debris.
The car’s driver, Allan Lee, 59, of Nashua, suffered a medical condition before he lost control of his 1999 Oldsmobile Alero, crashing into the 300 Nashua Road rental home and flipping over the family’s car, landing near the garage.
Yeager, who was on the second floor of the home when the accident occurred, called 911 and the family waited on the front lawn for emergency personnel to arrive, checking on Lee and informing him he had been in an accident and that help was on the way.
Rescue crews were able to resuscitate Lee in the ambulance after he suffered cardiac arrest, but he died later that night at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua.
Kaelynn suffered minor injuries from flying debris and glass. She was transported to a nearby hospital and released after receiving stitches in her back and arm.
Also in the home at the time of the crash were the couple’s youngest son, Paul; Scanlon’s son, Bryce; and their friend, Justin Lavoie.
Grateful everyone in the home is now safe, Yeager and Scanlon are trying to pick up the pieces and regain some normalcy for their children.
“We’re all a little traumatized. We haven’t even had time to deal with how we feel. We’re just trying to get things back to normal for our children,” said Yaeger, who is still haunted by the sound of the car crashing through her home and her children’s screams. “My children are not the same children they were before this. They’re struggling. We’re all lost.”
The family stayed with Yeager’s mother the night of the crash, and the Red Cross then set them up in a hotel. Her father has loaned them his car so she can drive her children to school and get to work; but the arrangement is temporary and the couple hopes to find a new home and purchase a vehicle soon.
Having moved to Londonderry very recently, Yeager said they were excited to be back in her hometown and had worked for four years to move into their first home.
When finances got tight, Yeager suspended her renter’s and car insurance about four months ago after years of owning the policies.
“Right before the accident, we had just been talking about how we were finally starting to get into the swing of things,” she said. “We were finally starting to recover after Christmas, but fate had other plans.”
Despite their loss, the family is feeling grateful for their safety and are saddened by the loss of Lee. Yeager said her fiancé knew him.
“He is connected through friends. He was a decent human being and he had a daughter. This is tragic all the way around,” she said.
Scanlon and Yeager were notified last week that they have 30 days to get their property out of their home so the insurance company can take it over.
Property owner Lenny Vigeant of Hudson said he has been in communication with the insurance company and they haven’t yet determined if the home is a total loss.
Scanlon and Yeager went back to their home to collect some of their belongings and clean out some of the mess and debris.
Friends and co-workers of the couple are donating through a fundraising page Yeager started on FundRazr.com called “Back on our feet: Londonderry, NH.”
“People donated $90 the first night it was up,” Yeager said. “It’s super uplifting and we’re breathing a little easier.”
As of Dec. 2, donors had contributed $1,550 to help the family buy a car and get back into a home.