How You Can Help the Lexington Family Involved in Last Weekend’s Crash

A Lexington family of four sustained serious injuries in a terrible accident last weekend on I-95 in Walpole and, with their toddler facing a long road to recovery, the community is coming together to lend a hand.

The Hersch family’s oldest son is enrolled at the Children’s Center of Lexington and the CCL community has pitched in to provide things like meals, shopping and play dates.

But now that it appears that the family’s 15-month-old toddler will require pediatric rehabilitation he can’t get in Boston, a fund is being set up through Cambridge Trust Company to help cover escalating expenses, according to Sally Gordon, director of the Children’s Center of Lexington.

The toddler, according to a family friend, sustained a broken spine and, subsequently, his arms ar paralyzed. He is in the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital now, but will need additional rehabilitation that will require at least a temporary relocation.

“There is a chance he can recover, but he’ll need specific care he can’t get in all of Boston,” said Gordon. ”They’re going to have to, in a few weeks when he’s stabilized, go to another city in another state. We’re not sure where yet.”

The single-car accident reportedly occurred shortly before 1 p.m. last Saturday, when the Hersch family’s 2007 Honda Accord somehow went off the road on the southbound side of Route 95 in Walpole.

The family was not identified at the time, but Gordon on Thursday identified the two adults as Greg and Jana Hersch. The names of the 5-year-old boy and 15-month-old toddler are still being withheld out of consideration for the family’s privacy.

According to Gordon, Jana Hersch and the 5-year-old boy sustained injuries including broken ribs and a punctured lung for Jana and broken ribs and a broken clavicle for the boy, but they are now home after receiving treatment.

Greg Hersch, who suffered multiple fractures to his leg and arm, will require an additional surgery and is unlikely to be walking for a few months, according to Gordon, who said Greg’s family is from out of state and Jana’s from out of the country.

“The community they have here is the friends they’ve made in town,” said Gordon. “They don’t have a lot of family around here, so that makes it even harder.”

In addition to collecting donations to help support the Hersch family through a potential temporary relocation for its youngest member’s pediatric rehabilitation, Gordon said the Children’s Center will look into what else the community can do to help and will communicate that information as it becomes available.

Donations to the fund can be dropped off at Cambridge Trust Company at 1690 Mass Ave., in Lexington Center.

Additionally, friends and community members are looking into the possibility of acquiring a donated vehicle for the Hersch family, as the totalled 2007 Accord was the family's only vehicle.

Stay tuned to Patch for more information as it becomes available.