Denise Bravo, 18, lost consciousness in the front passenger seat of the black Cadillac she was in with a friend from Santa Cruz and three Gavilan College basketball players after the car crashed into the center median on U.S. Highway 101 – only to wake up to the sight of a red sports car barreling straight at them.
On Thursday, home in San Juan Bautista after a stay at San Francisco General Hospital to aid her recovery from a ruptured kidney and slight pevical fracture, she described the awful accident that has left Gilroyan Andrel Gaines, 19, on life support in critical condition. Thousands have offered Gaines prayers and words of support through social media outlets Facebook and Twitter since news of the accident.
“We were literally watching the car drive towards us,” recalled Bravo. “We were hoping the car would turn or something. We watched up until it hit us.”
The car, a Nissan 300ZX driven by 43-year-old Dennis Leffew of San Jose, plowed into the Cadillac’s right side as it sat motionless in the fast lane around 1:30 a.m. Sunday near Millbrae on southbound U.S. 101, according to the California Highway Patrol, injuring Leffew and all five occupants of the Cadillac CTS sedan: Bravo, Gaines (who sat in the back on the driver’s side), his teammates Billy Heard and Davontea Johnson, and Santa Cruz resident Razelyn Ambrocio.
After passing out a second time, Bravo says she was jarred awake by the sounds of firefighters perforating the car’s metal doors to reach her. She also says no one in the car – including the driver, 22-year-old Gavilan basketball player Heard – had consumed any alcohol that evening. The group of friends spent Saturday hanging out at City Nights, an 18-and-over club on Harrison Street in San Francisco.
Both drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI, the CHP reported, but Bravo and another close friend say Heard didn’t touch a drop of alcohol that night.
“He had not (been drinking),” Bravo said. “I’m positive.”
Bravo confirmed earlier reports that Heard swerved to avoid a tire before losing control of the car.
Nikole Sands, one of Heard’s closest friends who has spent much of the last several days at his side at San Francisco General Hospital, says she was present when a nurse told Heard and his mother on Monday that toxicology tests had come back negative.
Tony Tam, the CHP’s public information officer for the San Francisco area, said the CHP would not disclose those test results.
Heard suffered a broken jaw but has been moved from an intensive care unit to his own room, Sands said.
Gaines, who suffered major brain trauma, remains on life support at the San Francisco hospital and needs a ventilator to breathe, according to Gavilan College Athletic Director Ron Hannon.
Johnson was home resting as of Wednesday after suffering a fractured lower leg. Bravo said Ambrocio texted her Thursday morning to say she was heading into surgery to also repair a fractured pelvis.
As Gaines, Heard and Ambrocio recover in hospitals, support has flourished, especially for Gaines.
Through Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, people thousands of miles from the Gavilan College campus were talking about him by mid-week.
Gavilan observed a moment of silence prior to the Rams’ volleyball match against visiting De Anza Wednesday night. The team honored the three players with ribbons bearing their initials and T-shirts saying, “We play for him, you pray for him,” complete with a cross hanging inside a heart emblem.
As of Thursday evening, the Dispatch had received no news of any changes to Gaines’ condition.
As Gaines’ friends and teammates remain on edge waiting for updates on his condition, support for the 2010 Gilroy High School graduate has exploded, with thousands of Twitter users keying in a simple phrase that has defined a movement of hope: “#prayforandrel.”
Friends have flooded the social networking site since Monday with countless tweets and re-tweets, asking everyone from South County acquaintances to Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes to pray for Gaines. It was the most-tweeted phrase in the San Francisco area Tuesday.
Supporters have tweeted to the likes of Ellen DeGeneres (8.1 million followers), Oprah (8.1 million followers), Lamar Odom (2 million followers), Dr. Phil (947,000 followers), Gov. Jerry Brown (1 million followers) and other public figures each with several million followers. Some high-profile figures have responded.
Golden State Warriors Head Coach Mark Jackson and Denver Broncos defensive back Brian Dawkins re-tweeted #prayforandrel Tuesday.
Gilroy’s own Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero re-tweeted the request Wednesday.
Hundreds of other celebrities, from Oscar winners to reality TV stars, have also been contacted via Twitter.
On Thursday afternoon, the tweets from supporters continued to pour in nearly every minute.
Jennifer Smith, 22, said she stayed awake until 3:30 a.m. Tuesday asking Twitter users nationwide to pray for Gaines. She’s also been making T-shirts bearing the “Pray for Andrel” slogan, and said she would deliver several of the shirts to his family at San Francisco General Hospital Thursday.
She called the outpouring of prayers for Gaines “crazy” – in a good way.
“I’ve never seen so many people come together,” Smith said. “Even my friends on Twitter that don’t even know him.”
When asked how much she hopes the movement will grow, Smith said, “As big as it can.”
“I’m not going to stop re-tweeting his name, I’m not going to stop making shirts, I’m not going to stop posting on Facebook until he opens his eyes again,” she said.
On Facebook, more than 6,700 people have joined a prayer chain, and others have created blogs to share their thoughts on Gaines’ condition and to offer support for those who know him best.
Some posted memories of Gaines dating back to middle school. Others offered prayer and encouragement even though they had never met him. Kenisha Gaines, his sister, posted a thank-you note on Facebook.
“We the Gaines family would like to extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to everyone who has said a prayer, sent a card, stopped by to visit, made a posting or even taken a moment to think of Andrel during this time,” she said. “As, we are sure you are aware, this is a very difficult time for our family, but we remain prayerful, vigilant and positive during this time. We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern, that has been shown. We will continue to update the different sites as the situation warrants.”
A fund for Gaines and his family also has been created on the website wepay.com to raise money for medical costs, the description says. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, $3,217 has been raised.
