- An Illinois man died after falling from a car while helping his daughter's girl scout troop.
- Aaron LaMore, 45, suffered a skull fracture after the fall, according to a GoFundMe his family set up.
An Illinois man died after falling from a moving car while helping run a canned food drive for his 12-year-old daughter's Girl Scout troop.
Aaron LaMore, 45, was helping his daughter, Mia, with the food drive in Lenox, Illinois on November 6 when he fell from the car that was moving at around 5 miles per hour, according to Patch. LaMore's wife, Erin, told Patch that she originally thought he faked the fall and wasn't injured.
"I honestly thought he jumped out of the back of the car being silly, because that's something he would do,'" LaMore told Patch. "He was kind of very light-hearted, loved joking around, she really thought he was just being silly."
LaMore's brother-in-law, Ryan Talaga told Patch that "they didn't even get to the first house" before LaMore "lost his footing" and "fell backwards out of the car onto the pavement and struck his head on the back."
Talaga's wife, Natalie, started a GoFundMe to support LaMore's family which has raised more than $40,000 as of Saturday. On the GoFundMe, Natalie Talaga wrote that LaMore fractured his skull when he fell from the back of the family's hatchback, but she said he "worked up the strength to pick himself off of the ground and walk into the ambulance" after emergency personnel arrived.
After the fall, LaMore was taken to Silver Cross Hospital for a CT scan, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and his doctors decided to transfer him to the University of Chicago Hospital. On November 11, Veterans Day, LaMore was taken off life support and succumbed to his injuries.
The University of Chicago Hospital held a hero's walk in LaMore's honor, a ceremonial event to recognize patients that die who are organ donors. Talaga wrote on the GoFundMe that LaMore, who was a veteran, would "forever be a hero and champion."
Ryan Talaga told Patch that LaMore's family quickly made the decision to make him an organ donor before taking him off of life support.
"We tried to turn a terrible situation into a situation that gives us a little sense of peace, working with Gift of Hope," Talaga told Patch. LaMore's family is asking that memorial donations be sent to Gift of Hope and the Wounded Warrior Project in lieu of flowers.