Fundraiser Set Up For Family Of Worker Crushed In Lake Co. Crash

ELGIN, IL – Fidel Hernandez is being remembered as an honorable man who worked hard and cared for others. Hernandez, 47, of Elgin was killed after he became pinned between two box-style trucks after his co-worker apparently failed to put his truck in park early Tuesday, authorities said. Now, a U-46 teacher, who is a close friend of Hernandez's wife, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds for Hernandez's family, the Elgin Courier-News reports.

Tamika Lecheé Morales says the funds raised in the online campaign will help Hernandez's wife, Gabriela, "figure out the next steps of her life." The couple had two young children, Fidelito and Nancy.

"No one ever expects to get that knock on the door in the middle of the night that wakes you up in your sleep to tell you that your spouse has been killed in a tragic accident on the job," Morales wrote on the GoFundMepage. "Gabby doesn't drive and has never worked outside of her home. She has dedicated herself to her children and her community by being active and involved in her children's school and church."

The collision occurred at about 12:40 a.m. on Tuesday when Hernandez pulled his work vehicle over on North Fairfield Road north of Route 176 near Wauconda to adjust the load in the rear of his truck. A second box-style truck following behind pulled over as well with the intention of helping his co-worker, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Police said it appeared the driver of the second truck, a 45-year-old Bloomingdale man, failed to put the vehicle in park before he got out.

Hernandez was standing between his box truck and his co-worker's truck, both of which were owned by the same refrigeration company, when the co-worker's truck ran into him, according to authorities. He become pinned between the two vehicles.

Hernandez was taken by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he died, police said.The Bloomingdale man was not injured in the accident.

As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign had raised $2,200.

More via GoFundMe and the Elgin Courier-News

Photo via GoFundMe