Help an American Hero!

[claireducky]

All right, WTers...I'm here to appeal to your philanthropic side.

A heroic business owner who survived a fiery highway crash and even saved two people from flames, is in need of help tonight.

 

Although he was a victim, financial fallout from that crash could claim his home.

 

Ray Shourds was in the passenger seat of his drilling truck when he survived one of the worst highway crashes in Hampton Roads history.

 

"It's something I don't care to ever think about again, but I think about it every day," Shourds said.

 

The last thing Ray wants in his Suffolk backyard is a twisted reminder of the tragedy, but he doesn't have a choice.

 

Three years ago, the rig was working so often that Shourds' drilling business was booming.

 

"I was well on my way to doing my best year yet."

 

He'd just taken out a second mortgage on his modest Manning Road home to expand the business. He began building a mammoth garage out back. Everything was going great, until he was heading home one July day in 2007.

 

"I saw the car ramping up out of the median. I could see the undercarriage of the vehicle and knew it was heading right at us," Shourds explained.

 

A careening car bounced across the Route 58 median, lifted into the air, and smashed nearly head-on into Ray's truck.

 

"It was deafening. It was glass breaking. It was the loudest thing I ever heard."

 

Ray's co-worker was knocked unconscious. Ray dragged him to safety as flames snaked through the snarled steel. Then Ray raced to help pull a boy from the burning Honda.

 

"That child, limp as a noodle, it's just terrible."

 

He went back to the car again. Suddenly the gas cap popped off, like the cork of a champagne bottle.

 

"We took one step back and it flashed over."

 

The car exploded. Five people still trapped in a small Honda burned to death in front of him. The boy he pulled out later perished at the hospital. The tragedy that killed five members of a New York family, along with a family friend, also hurt Ray's back and destroyed his only work truck. The Honda driver had only minimal insurance, and money dried up instantly.

 

Eventually, Ray's insurance company offered enough to buy a used drilling truck. With bills piling up, he needed jobs, so Ray took the check. To fix up the machine, he needed parts from the burned truck.

 

"I was counting on my insurance to make things right, but it didn't work out that way."

 

To collect against his policy, Ray's insurance company insisted he first come and sue the estate of the dead driver. There was no money in the estate, and they knew that. So the plan was that Ray's own insurance would pay whatever amount the jury decided. But to Ray, it seemed morbid to essentially sue a family that had already suffered so much. And he worried the jury would feel the same way.

 

Ray said, "It's just unbelievable. It's the most unfair thing I have ever come across."

 

His worries were right on target. Two weeks ago, a jury gave Ray just $30,000, one-tenth of what he'd asked.

 

"I'd say excluding the day of the accident, that day of court was the worst day of my life."

 

That amount didn't cover legal fees and medical bills, not to mention all the other debts that piled up after he was forced out of work for six months. That jury decision on March 10 also meant there was no money left to save the house.

 

"Since then, I have received this certified mail slip that I missed yesterday on my door. And I am certain that is my foreclosure notice."

 

"Devastating. You're just shocked, I guess. Your heart sinks down in your stomach," said Crystal Ellison, Ray's girlfriend of six years.

 

Ellison shares the home with him. It's the place where she dreamed of starting a family.

 

"I want to raise my children here," she said.

 

To her it all seems so unfair. Ray was doing nothing wrong that day. In fact, he acted heroically. And for that he's suffered physically and financially for three years.

 

"I want Ray to be back to the person he was before, and have that confidence again. I just want to save our house," Ellison added.

 

To save the house, Crystal has launched what could be the biggest bake sale Suffolk has ever seen. She posted Ray's story online, asking for donations. They need to raise $25,000. She knows that's a lot, so she's starting out by asking for a little. For every person who sends just $20, Crystal will head to her mixer and whip up a thank you.

 

"Banana bread, chocolate covered cherries, you take your pick," Crystal explained.

 

That's right. She'll reward every $20 donation with a homemade treat. That could mean more than a thousand loaves of banana bread.

 

"You know what? I am ready for it. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."

 

Crystal doesn't know if this crazy idea will work. But it's not in her character to give up. And even when she thinks about losing the house, she's reminded that she could've lost Ray in that crash.

 

"As long as we have each other, we are going to make it."

 

 

If you want to help this couple, please send a paypal donation to Cgellisonva@aol.com  (Crystal, Ray's girlfriend).  She will email you back promptly and not only thank you, but ask for your address to send you some home-baked goods!

 

This is a great cause and I know as Servants of All, we can help this family out.  Please feel free to repost this anywhere you would like!

 

<3

 

Mother

[claireducky]

Here is a link to the original story:

 

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-suffolk-hero-tagr,0,3764342.story?page=1

 

and the follow up story tonight (I'm mentioned!)

 

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-hero-follow,0,114735.story

 

 

[Torrie]

I know of this family. I live about 20 minutes from their house and pass by them daily. This was a horrible situation for this guy.

 

If you can, please help.

[Naeann]

I wish I could help them!  I have ten bucks to my name and no job... I hope they get enough to save their house.  What a horrible thing to happen.