Amish family recovering after driver crashes into their horse and buggy

By Andy Alcock

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    HOLDEN, Missouri (KMBC) — Five members of an Amish family are recovering after a driver crashed into their buggy Saturday afternoon.

Truman Gingerich, 38, and his wife Ada Gingerich, 33, were returning from a church service with three of their six children, three daughters ages three, five and seven.

According to the crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 71-year-old driver of a 2003 Mercury struck the rear of the Gingrich buggy.

All five members of the Gingerich Family were taken to area hospitals.

They’ve all been released except the 5-year-old girl.

“The Lord was looking out for them because they shouldn’t be here,” said Dan Atkinson.

Atkinson is a friend and neighbor of the Gingerich family and was one of the first people to arrive at the crash site.

The broken pieces of the buggy are lined up against a fence on the Gingerich property.

“I looked for it. I realized when I saw the broken wheels everywhere that the pieces of the buggy were all over the highway,” Atkinson said.

Truman Gingerich later told Atkinson the real horror of the crash, wondering if his daughters would survive.

“He said, Dan, you don’t understand how hard it was when I looked up, and I tried to get up, and I could see my little girls lying in the highway, and they were lifeless,” Atkinson said. “And he tried to get to them, and he was trying to get up off the ground, and when he got to them, he said he couldn’t get them to wake up or nothing,”

Atkinson spent part of Tuesday with extended Gingerich Family members taking a buggy to be repaired for Truman’s family to use.

The family horse also had to be put down at the crash site due to injuries.

Residents of the Holden community have been rallying around the Gingerich Family, including providing them with meals and raising money to help with medical expenses.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol cited the driver for careless and imprudent driving.

The case has not yet been referred to the Johnson County Prosecutor for possible criminal charges.

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