KANSAS CITY (AP)— Friends have established a GoFundMe page to raise funds to pay the medical expenses for 5-year-old Ariel.
She was critically injured in a multi-vehicle crash late Thursday near the Kansas City Chief's training complex adjacent to Arrowhead Stadium. The team confirmed in a statement Friday that Britt Reid, the son of Coach Andy Reid was involved in the accident.
Andy Reid said Sunday night that his “heart bleeds” for those injured in the crash involving his son. Ariel remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The crash occurred two days before the Chiefs were due to leave for the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. A vehicle had run out of gas on a highway entrance ramp and another vehicle had parked nearby to assist when the younger Reid’s pickup truck struck the left front of the first car before hitting the rear of the second car.
The two children, ages 5 and 4, were in the second car and taken to the hospital. The GoFundMe account set up for Ariel and her family had already raised more than $275,000 by the time the Chiefs had lost 31-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the championship game.
“My heart goes out to all those that were involved in the accident, in particular the little girl who is fighting for her life,” Andy Reid said. “I can’t comment any more than what I am here, so the questions that you have, I’m going to have to turn those down at this time. But just from a human standpoint, man, my heart bleeds for everyone involved in that.”
The 35-year-old Britt Reid, who coaches outside linebackers, did not travel to the Super Bowl.
The younger Reid told police he had “two or three drinks” and had a prescription for Adderall when the accident occurred, according to a search warrant filed late Thursday night. A police spokeswoman said an investigation into whether Reid was impaired before the accident could take several days to complete.
“I mean, it was a tragic situation all the way around,” said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had one of the worst games of his NFL career in the Super Bowl. “You’re just praying for everyone that was involved.”
Britt Reid has been in legal trouble several times.
He was arrested in January 2007 in Pennsylvania a road-rage incident in which he pointed a gun at another driver, and he was sentenced to up to 23 months in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty to charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm, simple assault, possession of a controlled substance and possession of an instrument of crime.
Seven months later, Reid was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to up to six months in jail.
Reid appeared to get his life on track, beginning his coaching career as an intern for his father with the Eagles in 2009. He spent the next two years as a graduate assistant at Temple, his alma mater, before joining the staff in Kansas City.
After two seasons as a defensive quality control coach, Reid was promoted to assistant defensive line coach. He then spent three seasons as the defensive line coach before shifting to outside linebackers for the past two seasons.
His father refused to say the traffic accident near Arrowhead Stadium last week had anything to do with the outcome of the Super Bowl, though Mahomes acknowledged the entire situation left the team a bit deflated.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” Mahomes said. “Guys were still ready to go. It’s still a very tragic situation and you want to keep that in the back of your mind, and you give prayers to the family involved. I don’t want to say it affected us on the field. They beat us. There’s no excuse on that. But you’re definitely praying for those families.”