It was just another Thursday night, one of two nights of the week when Debbie Cash Tiger works late at Cunningham Children’s Home in Urbana. So it wasn’t unusual that the Champaign mom of three would be driving at 8:13 p.m. on the section of Interstate 72 that leads into University Avenue.
But that night, it turns out that Tiger was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Horribly wrong.
Tiger was behind the wheel when a woman — wearing black from head to toe — darted into traffic, right in front of Tiger’s Volkswagen beetle.
Tiger had no chance to avoid her, and the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. When the Illinois State Police reached Tiger minutes later, they apologized for not getting there in time to have prevented this terrible accident. Another driver managed to avoid the woman on the highway earlier, but had the wherewithal to report the incident.
Quite miraculously, Tiger was barely hurt — at least physically. She was treated and released at the scene after having glass removed from her eyes and mouth.
“I had glass from head to toe,” she said. “It was amazing I wasn’t hardly cut up at all.”
When I spoke to Deb on the phone, it was hard to know even what to say. I can’t imagine what she must be going through as she processes what happened, as it replays in her mind again and again. Luckily she has good friends, an understanding workplace, and resources to help her through this traumatic event.
“It’s kind of unreal and numbing so far,” she told me on Monday. “It’s a moment to moment thing.”
But what she doesn’t have is a car. The old Volkswagen had 170,000 miles on it, and she carried only liability insurance. When she spoke to a collision repair expert, they told her the repairs would be more than the car was worth – well over $3,000.
Facing a bill like that with few resources, she decided to scrap the car instead, not sure where she would do. As a single mom with two boys at home (ages 17 and 10), extra funds aren’t readily available for her.
“I just want a car, a reliable car, to get me from Point A to Point B; just to get to work so I can continue to support my kids, and to take them to school,” she said.
Tiger works at Cunningham Children’s Home as a supervisor in the residential section. She works with kids directly as well as supervising staff. She has been with Cunningham for more than 16 years, doing a job she loves.
Knowing that she was trying to figure out how to get money to replace her vehicle, her brother had the idea to start a “Go Fund Me” site to help fundraise. At first Tiger was reluctant.
“When you work in the helping profession sometimes it’s really hard to ask for help,” she said.
In less than 48 hours (at posting of this article) the fund had more than $3,000 donated of a modest $5,000 request. Most donations were around $50, but they started at $5 and went up to $150.
If you would like to contribute to the fund, please visit Tiger’s fundraising site. We’re hoping that Tiger will exceed her goal and then some. Because it’s the least we can do, to help someone who has helped our kids so much – someone who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“This community is just amazing in how people have spread the word. It’s really hard sometimes to accept help. It’s amazing the support I’m getting.
“I’m truly blessed.”
Laura Weisskopf Bleill is the mom-in-chief of chambanamoms.com. She can be reached at laura@chambanamoms.com.