A man who was badly hurt when a car crashed into a bakery last week had been set to start National Guard basic training in the new year, according to the organizer of a fundraiser.

Eric Fernandez, 19, remained hospitalized Thursday after being flown by helicopter to Hartford Hospital nearly a week earlier, along with a 65-year-old woman who also was injured in the crash. A third person inside the Rosa Vega De Puerto Rico Bakery, a 48-year-old Torrington man, and the driver of the vehicle, a 58-year-old Torrington man, were taken to separate hospitals for minor injuries, police have said.

The crash is being investigated, police said, and no update is expected for several weeks.

Fernandez was eating lunch last Friday at about 11:45 a.m. when the crash happened, according to GoFundMe organizer Jessica Lliviganay, who said she is Fernandez’s sister-in-law.

“He is a force of good in this world and demonstrated his dedication to serving others by enlisting in the National Guard and was set to go to basic training in February,” Lliviganay wrote.

Now, she wrote, he “will need ongoing, extensive medical care, many surgeries to repair broken bones, and once he gets out of the hospital he will need ongoing physical therapy to regain his strength and mobility.

“Unfortunately, at the present moment Eric does not have medical insurance as his military benefits do not kick in until he deploys” Lliviganay wrote, “and his family now faces overwhelming medical bills that will only continue to increase as his recovery progresses.”

Relatives and a friend of other person who was badly hurt in the crash, Gladys Medina, said this week that she was in a lot of pain but recovering.

The organizer of a GoFundMe for the bakery, Ashley Murelli, said Medina is the mother of bakery owner and was working in the kitchen when the crash happened. Murelli said she was told by family members that Medina was burned by hot oil that “went all over the place” during the crash.

Anyone with information about the crash, or who has video surveillance footage of the incident, is asked to contact Torrington Police at 860-489-2000.

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