Indian American man hit by car dies
GoFundMe page set up for father of three, who had gone to pick Pokemon cards for his children
A GoFundMe page has been set up for an Indian American father of three, who died after being hit by a car in Pennsylvania when he had gone to pick up insulin and Pokemon cards for his children.
A sum of $4,785 has been raised so far out of $7,000 target for Pritesh Patel, 39, a resident of Dauphin County who was hit on Jan 27 while crossing Route 322 in Swatara Township. He died at Penn State Hershey Medical Center on Jan 29, Penn Live reported.
Read: Tesla Devil’s Slide crash driver charged with attempted murder (January 31, 2023)
Patel, was leaving the Speedway convenience store at the Mushroom Hill Road intersection — crossing north across 322 toward Walmart — when an eastbound vehicle hit him around 6:15 pm, the newspaper said citing police.
Patel was not in a crosswalk, according to police. Surveillance footage indicated eastbound traffic had a green light at the time. Police were not able to say how fast the vehicle that hit Patel was going. Police said the driver stayed at the scene afterward and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
Elizabeth Pilukaitis, a sister of Patel’s wife, told Penn Live that on the night of the accident, he was riding an e-bike to get some items for his sons. Pilukaitis said he wanted to pick up insulin for his youngest son who has Type 1 diabetes, and Pokemon cards.
The Patel family has decided to donate Patel’s kidneys following his death. Patel was supposed to start a new job at Dauphin County where he had recently moved in along with his family after spending more than a decade in Lancaster.
Pilukaitis who is organizing the fundraiser on behalf of her sister Jessica Patel, wrote “on the evening of Friday January 27th, my sister’s husband was hit by a car. They were together for 26 years, since they were 15. He fought hard but unfortunately passed away Sunday night.
“He was a dedicated father of 3 and husband who did anything for his family. My sister who is a stay at home mom due to their youngest son having type 1 diabetes is now left to pick up the pieces,” she wrote.
Read: Indian-origin father of 3 dies after being hit by car in US (February 6, 2023)
“Pritesh (Peter) was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and him and his son would sit there and do their finger pricks together so he wasn’t so scared,” Pilukaitis wrote.
“This is a guy that would give anything to anyone in need. He was one of a kind. This is the hardest thing we have had to go through as a family.”
“Please donate anything you can to help my sister with expenses at this time to help lessen the burden. Thank you,” Pilukaitis appealed.
