A family in Pennsylvania has been going through an ordeal following the tragic death of Pritesh “Peter” Patel, 39, whom the members describe as a person ‘who did anything for them’.
Patel died on January 30 days after he was hit by a car in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvani, while he was on his way to pick up insulin and Pokémon cards, reported PennLive.
According to reports, the Patel family moved to Dauphin County a few weeks ago, after spending more than a decade in Lancaster.
His sister-in-law Elizabeth Pilukaitis said that Patel, father of three, was riding his e-bike that night to Walmart as he didn’t have a car.
Police said that the driver that hit Patel stayed at the scene and was cooperating with the investigation. Following the accident, Patel was rushed to Hershey Medical Center, where he was kept alive with the assistance of machines before dying three days later surrounded by his family.
Pilukaitis told PennLive that Patel’s wife, Jessica, asked for extra scans despite the doctors seemingly knowing that he was dead.
“They just did it for her sake. So she would be more at peace,” she was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
Pilukaitis started a GoFundMe page to help the family with their expenses and raised over $6400 so far.
“On the evening of 27 January, my sister’s husband was hit by a car. They were together for 26 years, since they were 15. He fought hard but unfortunately passed away. He was a dedicated father of three and husband who did anything for his family. My sister who is a stay at home mom due to their youngest son having type 1 diabetes is now left to pick up the pieces,” the page reads.
“Pritesh (Peter) was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and he and his son would sit there and do their finger pricks together so he wasn’t so scared. This is a guy that would give anything to anyone in need. He was one of a kind. This is the hardest thing we have had to go through as a family. Please donate anything you can to help my sister with expenses at this time to help lessen the burden.”
Pilukaitis said that music and dance were big parts of Patel’s life. “He always wanted to be dancing with his kids. If he wasn’t dancing, he might be cooking or hanging out with his family. Even though music was a just hobby, Patel was in the process of making a music studio in his house in Palmyra, which his wife still wants to complete in his honor,” she added.
Pilukaitis PennLive: “He never had any specific career but did everything he could to provide for his family. He had a job set up for him in Palmyra and was supposed to start the week after the crash. He was positive, driven and worked hard but also was focused on being there for his kids. He never missed their functions and activities, and took his daughter to every daddy-daughter dance.”
