GoFundMe created to support homeowners in deadly Belchertown crash

An airborne crash Sunday left two gaping holes in the home of Donna and Trevor Sims of Belchertown — one of which was caused by the vehicle’s engine flying 25 feet to the second floor.

Now a friend of the family is raising money for the Sims through a GoFundMe page ^[1], stating the home has been condemned.

“It will take time for their insurance to assess the damage and issue payments and they pray that all of the repairs needed will be covered and that their home will not be deemed a total loss,” states the GoFundMe, organized by Seána Justine.

The GoFundMe, created Monday night, had about $300 raised toward its $20,000 goal as of Tuesday morning.

The Sims family had just bought the home five months ago, Trevor Sims told MassLive on Monday ^[2]. He said he was making dinner on Sunday night when he heard a loud bang and his mother-in-law screaming.

He ran upstairs and ushered his mother-in-law away from a gaping hole in the side of their home, where a vehicle’s engine had smashed through their upstairs bathroom.

Minutes prior, a 19-year-old man ^[4] sped away from police when they tried to pull him over, resulting in a serious airborne collision course through a Belchertown neighborhood, according to police.

The airborne Nissan hit a light post before smashing into the front end of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler parked at a neighbor’s home, and finally stopped when it hit the outside of the Sims’ home, police said.

The unidentified 19-year-old driver from New Hampshire was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police found beer cans and a fake ID ^[5] inside the vehicle following the crash, they said.

“Tragically, the young driver was killed,” the GoFundMe says. “The Sims family feels devastated on behalf of the young man and his family.”

Trevor Sims was one of only a few people who saw the body of the teenager in the bushes a short walk away from the house.

“The officer thought he ran off,” Sims said. “I heard something hit the bushes ... he was just gone. He was dead on scene.”

Still sitting on the second floor bathroom of the brick home is the Nissan engine which was ejected from the 19-year-old’s car, its oil leaking onto the first floor of the home, according to Sims.

He said he was grateful that the Jeep parked near their house potentially blocked the vehicle’s progress toward the part of their house occupied by people. The engine, which on Monday was still sitting on the second floor bathroom and leaking oil into the first floor of their home, flew into an empty room, he said.

“If the Jeep wasn’t there,” Sims said. “It probably would’ve killed my mother-in-law.”

The home has another hole on the first level where Donna Sims said she kept her deceased father’s Stephen King book collection.

“All my dad’s books are damaged,” Sims said. “I kept the collection going after he passed away. Every time Stephen King came out with a book, I bought it. I never read any of them. I don’t even like Stephen King.”

The couple said they don’t know where they will live after the American Red Cross money runs out but they hope their insurance provides a solution.

At the same time, as a mother to three sons, Donna Sims said she is still thinking about the teenager who died on Sunday.

“The house can be replaced, you can’t replace him. Nineteen — he was just starting his life,” she said.

Donations to the GoFundMe can be made here ^[6].

References

^{^} a GoFundMe page (www.gofundme.com)
^{^} told MassLive on Monday (www.masslive.com)
^{^} Flying engine from crash into Belchertown home nearly killed mother-in-law, homeowner said (www.masslive.com)
^{^} 19-year-old man (www.masslive.com)
^{^} found beer cans and a fake ID (www.masslive.com)
^{^} here (www.gofundme.com)