Westwood High School in Iowa seeks support for wrestlers injured in terrible accident

The wrestling family from a small community in Northwest Iowa is reaching out for support and prayers, after a automobile terrible accident on Saturday, Nov. 8, which has devastated the community.

Five high school wrestlers and their coach were heading to a wrestling clinic in a vehicle, which was struck head-on by another vehicle. The driver of the other auto was killed, and the six Westwood High School passengers were injured and hospitalized.

The plight of the Westwood community was first shared with the nation, when Jason Bryant of Wrestling 411 wrote about it on his blog, as well as on the company website. To read Bryant's appeal to the wrestling community, visit:
http://bryantwrestling.wordpress.com/

"We are a five small towns in Iowa. All of them have 1,000 people or less. We are rural Iowa," said Kirk Ahrends, the Westwood Schools Superintendent. "We come together at the best of times and the worst of times. I can't say how much our community is coming together and helping our boys and our coach."

Now, days after the accident, each of those who were victims of the crash are dealing with different medical issues, all which need immediate and extensive care.

The Westwood School District has set up an account where people can make donations to support the medical care for the wrestlers and coach.

The Sloan State Bank, 302 4th Street, Sloan, Iowa 51055 has set up seven individual accounts for donations to the following victims:
Dan Thompson, Coach
Trent Baker, Student in accident
Adam Greeno, Student in accident
Blake Jorgensen, Student in accident
Jordan Mitchell, Student in accident
Sage Washburn, Student in accident
Quaid Haburn, Student whose father was killed in other vehicle

Donations can be addressed to each individual account if you like to donate to a specific person or donations addressed to the "Westwood Accident Victims" will be divided equally among the accounts. Please note these donations are not tax deductible.

"We are trying to make arrangements with a charitable organization in town that can take donations on a tax deductible basis," said Ahrens. "It is in progress. We hope to have that set up by Friday."

There are specific medical needs that need attention right away.

"We are progressing with one of our boys to go to the Craig Institute in Colorado. That is a program for paralyzed students. That is a long-term situation for he and his family to move out there. It may be up to 180 days," said Ahrens.

"We have two other students who are facing operations. We don't know what those needs are yet. There will be long term needs for them," said Ahrens. "The good news is we had one student walk out on Monday. We hope our coach and another student may be out of the hospital by Friday."

This tragic accident has brought the community together, both within the school district, but also around the state of Iowa. In addition, prayers and support have flowed in from the wrestling community all across the nation;

"They are 25 miles from my school. The head coach there is a very good friend," said Casey Conover, head wrestling coach for Maple-Valley/Anthon-Oto High School and one of the many people working to help the Westwood wrestlers. "It was a horrible accident. Any help they receive would be greatly appreciated."

Press releases from the Westwood School District

Press release 1 - Details about the accident
http://www.westwood.k12.ia.us/pressrelease.html

Press release 2 - Information on hospital visits
http://www.westwood.k12.ia.us/pressrelease2.html

Press release 3 - Information on making donations to help victims
http://www.westwood.k12.ia.us/pressrelease3.html

The Westwood Schools have identified a number of independent websites that are informing people about the Westwood wrestlers. The school district is not responsible for these websites.

Independent websites concerning wrestlers

http://westwoodwrestlers.blogspot.com

http://caringbridge.org/visit/trentbaker

http://caringbridge.org/visit/blakejorgensen

Local news reports on the Westwood High School wrestling accident

School helping student after crash injures six
http://siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/11/11/news/local/188d7e7229f6ec65862574fe0018d4dc.txt

Westwood student released from hospital
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/11/11/news/latest_news/a6ad06915c52c13c862574fe0054064d.txt

A community stands together to support crash victims
http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9325886&nav=menu110_2

Wrestler injured in crash upgraded
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081110/NEWS/811100315/-1/ENT06

Six remain hospitalized after crash (update)
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/11/09/news/latest_news/4c69ea0722679ac1862574fc0082acac.txt

Head-on crash kills one, injures six
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/11/09/news/top/e70e9b1032a4325e862574fc00117b42.txt