UPDATE:
According to Florida Highway Patrol, Keli Machado, 30, was pronounced dead Friday, nearly a week after the crash. The family told Fox 4 that the 5-year-old is out of the hospital and she is at home recovering.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jesus Machado of North Port lost his life in a car accident Saturday night.
Troopers say he was driving on U.S. 41 in North Fort Myers around 10 p.m. with his wife and three kids near Avenue A. That’s when Florida Highway Patrol said his Jeep Wrangler crashed into the median and rolled over multiple times before it landed in a ditch nearby.
Machado and his wife Keli were thrown out of the Jeep. He died at the scene. Kelli and their 5-year-old daughter Khaleesi were taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
Machado’s sister Rita Noda said the loss of her brother hurts. “You know that saying the good die young? That’s him,” she said. “He was a loving father. Anything that we ever needed…he would take the clothes off his back for anyone.”
FHP is investigating the cause of this crash. Machado’s sons were in the backseat of the car and have minor injuries from the crash. Noda said the boys were wearing their seatbelts. The report said Machado was not wearing a seatbelt, and it’s unclear if anyone else in the car was wearing one.
Noda started a GoFundMe to help with her brother’s funeral arrangements and hospital expenses for her neice and sister-in-law. She said little Khaleesi was placed in a coma and was unable to breathe on her own. She woke up from that coma Sunday evening. Kelli has spinal injuries and broken arms and legs.
But for now, Noda said her family is staying positive, because if Khaleesi and her mom recover, they have a long journey ahead of them.
“We do believe in miracles and I think prayers are the most important,” she said.
FHP said drugs or alcohol are not known to be factors in the crash as of Sunday night.
