Donations Sought 1 Year After Man Is Hit By Car In Naugatuck

NAUGATUCK, CT — Donations are still being sought to help Joel "Brandon" Guth a year after he was struck by a car while confronting a suspected burglar in Naugatuck.

On July 12, 2022, Guth left his Alma Street home around 4:30 a.m. to confront suspects attempting to burglarize his vehicle. While doing so, he was intentionally struck by a black car, which fled the scene and left Guth in the road with life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The incident left Guth in a coma and on a ventilator with a brain injury and a collapsed lung, among other injuries.

On Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the incident, Cassidy Mucherino, Guth's sister and the organizer of a GoFundMe campaign launched last year to assist with his medical bills, posted an update on her brother's condition.

"[Guth] is currently in a nursing care facility, as he has not progressed enough to come home," the update reads. "Brandon has an extreme severe traumatic brain injury. He is unable to speak and needs to find new ways to communicate, can not sit up on his own, can not walk, can not move the right side of his body, can not eat anything (has feeding tube), and can only consume nectar thickened liquids at the moment."

See also

• GoFundMe Launched To Help Man Hit By Car In Naugatuck
• Police ID Naugatuck Man Struck By Car After Interrupting Break-In
• 3 Charged In Hit-And-Run That Sent Man To Hospital: Naugatuck Police

She also noted Guth has experienced multiple setbacks over the past year, and doctors currently cannot say if he will ever fully recover.

Mucherino thanked everyone who had donated thus far to the campaign, which has raised over $35,000 as of Friday afternoon, and for the support members of the community had shown Guth over the past year. Those who wish to donate to the GoFundMe page can do so here.

In September, police said three Hartford men had been charged in connection to the hit-and-run incident.