A California child has been left without both parents after his father died and his mother was taken off life support following a devastating multivehicle crash on Interstate 80 last Saturday.
Gregory and Vanessa Tobias, both 29 and from Vacaville, were driving east on I-80 at about 2:35 a.m. on Oct. 31 when their blue Hyundai Tucson overturned, authorities said.
Three vehicles then collided with the wrecked Hyundai, triggering a chain-reaction crash that spread across the freeway.
Gregory suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Vanessa, who was riding in the passenger seat, was taken to Kaiser Vacaville in critical condition. She died six days later, on Nov. 6, according to an update released this week.
The couple is survived by their young son, Austin.
“After extensive testing, our beautiful daughter was declared brain-dead. There are no words to describe the heartbreak of a mother who prayed so desperately for God to heal her baby,” Vanessa’s mother, Heather Estebez, wrote in an update on the family’s GoFundMe page.
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Estebez said the family spent six days praying and pleading with God for a miracle, but Vanessa never regained consciousness.
“Our hearts are shattered. I cannot understand why we have lost them both or why precious Austin must grow up without his mommy and daddy. But we are holding tightly to our faith,” Estebez wrote.
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The family also established a public Facebook group, where relatives, friends and community members have continued to post messages of mourning. Former classmates, coworkers and loved ones have shared memories of the couple.
“This morning at 12:18 a.m., Vanessa’s heart was stopped so it could be donated as someone else’s miracle. In true Vanessa fashion, she is going to be a selfless blessing to so many other people,” her sister, Charlize Estebez, wrote in the group Tuesday.
Vanessa was an organ donor, and her family said her heart, pancreas, kidneys and liver would be donated to help save other lives.
“My Vanessa had a heart of gold, and now that beautiful heart will continue beating in someone else’s chest,” her mother said.
Hallie Sullivan, who had been friends with Vanessa for nearly 15 years, said their birthdays were just one week apart. The friends had been planning to celebrate their 30th birthdays together in Las Vegas in 2027.
“Our birthdays being a week apart was one of our favorite things. We even planned to celebrate our 30th next year in Vegas. Greg had never been, and I remember us making those plans just a month ago. We were so excited and marked the date on our calendars,” Sullivan wrote in the Facebook group.
Sullivan said she continued to hope the tragedy was only a nightmare. “I miss you so, so much. Words can’t even begin to describe how much you mean to me,” she wrote.
The family said a joint memorial service for Gregory and Vanessa will take place Friday, Nov. 20, in Vacaville, followed by a Celebration of Life. The couple will be buried at Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery.
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