Orphaned Siblings Reunite For The First Time After Crash Killed Their Parents And Baby Sister

May 06, 2019

April 7, 2018 saw an otherwise-ordinary drive outside of Sterling City, Texas turn tragic for the Clemens’ family. A head-on collision stole the lives of parents Jim and Karisa, as well as their 2-month-old daughter, Juliana. The Clemens’ four eldest children, Angela, 8, Zachary, 6, Wyatt, 4, and Nicholas, 2, survived the crash and were rushed to a Fort Worth hospital.

The children's injuries included Zachary’s broken back and Angela’s broken legs, as well as the head trauma that left Angela in a week-long coma. Wyatt experienced several strokes, which led to him being partially paralyzed.

Nicholas, fortunately, was released after just a few days of treatment. For his remaining siblings, though, the difficulty and cost of recovery mounted. So their great-aunt, Teresa Burrell opened a Facebook fundraiser in their name.

“I don’t want to say numbers,” Burrell said. “It was such a traumatic time that it’s a blur. But I think my initial asking was like $40,000, and within 24 hours we had met that goal.”

Within 48 hours, that amount doubled. But as the children’s conditions worsened, Burrell said, the fundraiser became about more than just raising money.

“When we started seeing the damage with the children and the reality of what lay ahead for the future—we’re really religious people—and we reached out to the global Facebook family” she said.

In response, people from all walks of life and varied faiths began praying and fasting on the siblings’ behalfs. And with the mounting generosity of strangers seemed to come increasing miracles: Angela woke from her coma and asked for her brother.

“So we knew she had remembrance of her family,” Burrell said. “It’s really hard with brain damage to know where you’re headed.”

But Angela and her brothers continued recovering. A month post-accident, Wyatt was practically climbing the walls, a far cry from his previous paralysis. September even saw the siblings recover well enough to return to school. All of this, Burrell credits to the kindness of donators.

“Our lives have been forever changed due to the generosity of good people throughout the world,” she said.

The siblings now live with their grandmother, Susan Skillicorn, who still mourns their family’s loss but said she now focuses on making the remaining Clemens children feel “loved and secure.”

Comment to tell us what you think of the siblings' recoveries!