Notre Dame student raising money for crash survivor

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Two lives taken too soon.

On Saturday morning just before 4 AM, University of Notre Dame students Olivia Rojas, Valeria Espinel and Eduardo Calderon were struck by a vehicle, leaving Oliva and Valeria dead at the scene and Eduardo in critical condition.

The unexpected tragedy, leaving community members and the Fighting Irish family in disbelief.

“My initial reaction was a state of shock, like I think it was for everybody. it seems like this year, things kept, kept coming,” Notre Dame student Emma Truesdale said.

After hearing the news, Notre Dame student Emma Truesdale felt a sudden urge to do something.

“Literally just yesterday around 7 o’clock I was talking to my mom about wanting to get something for Eduardo and for his family to take to the hospital,” Truesdale said. “It really started off as just, you know knowing he was in the hospital and wanting to make his stay and his families stay a little bit more comfortable, keep them occupied.”

Truesdale then decided to post her Venmo account onto Facebook giving community members a chance to also give a helping hand.

In just less than 24 hours, Truesdale raised over $1,100 for the Calderon family.

“While I’m surprised by it, I honestly didn’t expect anything less from this community. If there’s one thing that Notre Dame students know how to do, it’s turn feelings and emotion into positive action and so i was just so heartened to see the outpouring of support to Eduardo and for his family,” Truesdale.

While Truesdale never knew any of the victims personally…

“There’s just such a strong sense of community at Notre Dame that every loss feels very personal,”

 she said. “I’m glad that you know, we were able to make something positive happen out of this really, really tragic, horrible situation. Just the goal of doing the fundraiser was to alleviate even the tiniest amount of stress that the family is feeling currently. I guess going forward, I’d just ask that people keep all of the families in their thoughts and prayers.

Toxicology reports for all involved are still pending. No attests have been made yet, and it’s unclear if the crash was criminal in nature. The investigation is still ongoing.

If you’re wanting to help the family, you can donate to any of Truesdale’s accounts:

Venmo: @EmmaTruesdale

PayPal: paypal.me/etrueda

CashApp: $EmmaTruesdale