Fundraiser held for David Crockett student injured in crash involving school bus
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Lamar Ruritan Club held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for Matthew Ledford, the David Crockett student who was injured in a crash involving a school bus last month.
Ledford is recovering at the Shepherd Center in their Brain Injury Rehabilitation program in Atlanta. His sister, Rheanne Smith, was at the dinner and told News Channel 11 that he is now awake.
“They are considering him to be awake now,” Smith said. “And he’s just making slow victories. Baby steps in the right direction every single day. It is a slow process when it comes to your brain. It’s just the brain takes a long time to heal. And so we’re just so victorious with all of the small victories that he’s having and so happy. And just continued prayers for his brain and his body to move in the right direction.”
President of the Lamar Ruritan Club James Hanson doesn’t personally know Ledford. However, he said the club’s purpose is to help those in need.
“That’s our foundation is to support our community, promote goodwill fellowship in the community,” Hanson said. “So anything we can do to help our community members, we try to step up and do it.”
Smith said it’s been heartwarming to see the outpour of support from so many people in the community.
“The amount of outreach that his friends and teammates and parents of teammates, I mean, it’s just amazing,” Smith said. “And then our church family and more so people in the community, I mean, even just knowing of a friend of a friend is reaching out saying ‘how can we help? how can we be there supporting?’ And it’s just so amazing to see so many people come together to support him and friends. That with wrestling and football and he was involved with reenactments, just the wide span of people that are coming together to support him.”
Hanson said the Ruritan Club is willing to help Ledford’s family any way they can.
“We just want him, want his family to know that he’s in our thoughts and prayers and anything they need, just don’t hesitate to reach out to us,” Hanson said.
Ledford’s family asks for continued prayers.
“He has such a long journey ahead of him and don’t give up on him,” Smith said. “Keep those prayers coming in, because he needs every ounce of prayers that we can give him and continued support.”
All of the proceeds from the spaghetti dinner go to help Ledford’s medical expenses.
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