A family trip to drop off a son at college turned into a tragedy last week when a car crash in North Carolina killed two beloved Ohio teachers and severely injured their two younger children.
Donald Nunney, 55, and his wife, Maria Galindo Nunney, 50, were both killed in the crash on Friday, August 15, while traveling to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to drop off their oldest son, Noah. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the couple’s Honda Odyssey veered off Interstate 40, went down an embankment, and collided with a large tree.
The couple’s two younger children, Leo, 9, and Lucia, 15, were also in the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. Their oldest son, Noah, 19, was traveling in a separate car and was unharmed. He was reportedly at his siblings’ hospital bedsides to comfort them. “Their entire world has changed,” said Sgt. Tyler Tucker of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
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A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the four children—Noah, his brother Diego, 18, and the two youngest, Leo and Lucia. The organizers described Donald and Maria as “amazing and loving parents” who “gave so much of themselves to their students and their community.” Both were teachers at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and their loss has been described as “shocking and heartbreaking” by the president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, Shari Obrenski.
The crash remains under investigation, but the community is focused on supporting the children and honoring the Nunneys’ legacy. The GoFundMe has already raised over $128,000.
