Benefit on Feb. 10 for Albion mom seriously injured in Nov. 21 car accident

Crystal Hand volunteers as PTA president, Girl Scout leader and Music Booster

Photo by Tom Rivers: Crystal Hand is shown Friday even with her husband Matt and their three daughters, from left: Sam, 18; Al, 17; and Rianne, 12.

ALBION – Crystal Hand was driving home to Albion on Nov. 21 after an appointment in Brockport. It was a rare ride by herself. Usually, she has at least one of her children with her, and often some of their friends.

But at 11:12 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, she was driving a Chevy Impala alone on Route 31A in Clarendon. She was nearing a notorious curve in Clarendon, when another car came at her from the opposite direction – in her lane. A collision was unavoidable.

Hand, 40, was badly injured in the crash with a shattered right leg, a left arm broken in two places, a concussion, bruised collarbone and nerve damage in both arms. She has had six surgeries, including putting a rod in her leg from the kneecap to her ankle.

“I’ve been in pain since Nov. 21,” Crystal said during an interview at her home in Albion on West State Street. While she talked she had a bag of frozen vegetables on her aching knee.

She is grateful to be alive, and to have been by herself in the car that day.

Two people in the other car were killed. Justin S. Christmas, 32, of Rochester and Autumn Lynn Dercqu, 22, of Medina didn’t survive. Christmas was driving the car, a Buick. He was eastbound when he crossed a double solid line at a curve, where one of the property owners keeps a sign noting the accidents.

Hand stayed awake after the impact. She turned her car off so it wouldn’t burst into flames. A good Samaritan was quickly on scene to check on her. She directed him to her phone and had him call her husband Matt to let him know she had been hurt in an accident. Matt was working from home and took off to see his wife, but in a blur he first forget his car keys, then his phone.

He came upon the scene with the other car in a field and his wife on a stretcher, being put in an ambulance. She was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Crystal said the pain in her leg that day was the worst she has ever felt, much more intense than giving birth to any of her three children.

In the ambulance she was told the two people in the other car did not survive. “When I heard that my heart broke,” she said.

Hand was hospitalized for about two weeks. She pushed herself to get out in time to see her youngest daughter’s middle school holiday concert. Crystal made it for that Dec. 7 event, positioned up front in a wheelchair.

“I’ve never missed one of their concerts and I wasn’t about to start,” she said.

Rianne, 12, is the youngest of the daughters. Al is 17 and Sam is 18. All have been very involved in the school musical programs.

Their mother is the treasurer of the Albion Music Boosters. She is president of the PTA that serves the elementary school, and also is a Girl Scout leader.

‘Always willing to help anywhere’

“She is all about her family and her kids,” said Rose Allen, the previous PTA president. “Anything with her kids she is all in.”

Allen has known Crystal and Matt for several years now through the PTA and Music Boosters.

“We have done many book fairs and craft nights through the PTA,” Allen said. “I can always depend on her and her husband. They are good people.”

Crystal is very dedicated and reliable to the organizations that serve the local students, and she does it without seeking any attention.

“She is very meek and doesn’t toot her own horn,” Allen said. “She is always willing to help anywhere.”

The Hands have a welcoming home to their children’s friends. They often have movie nights and kids like to hang out there. Allen’s daughter is among the kids who like to visit the Hand family.

Spaghetti dinner benefit at QWL on Feb. 10

Allen is leading a benefit for the family on Feb. 10 with a spaghetti dinner, basket raffle and 50/50 from noon to 3 p.m. at the QWL Building at 3623 Washington St., Albion.

There are 300 tickets available for the dinner and they are $15 each and pre-sale only. Allen is selling tickets (contact her at 585-298-8377), and any PTA or Music Boosters member also has them. Allen also can be reached to donate a basket or they can be dropped at the QWL on Saturday at 8 a.m.

Anyone interested in donating to the family can do it directly through Venmo at @Matthew-Hand-109.

Hand has been receiving in-home nursing care, and occupational and physical therapy. That is ending and she will be going to outpatient clinics for OT and PT, to learn to walk again.

She said she appreciates the many encouraging text messages and cards from the community. Crystal has to do the hunt-and-peck method to respond to texts, and several times a day she drops her phone because she can’t grasp it firmly due to the nerve damage.

She and her husband are thankful their friends formed a food chain right after the accident, frequently dropping off meals for the Hands.

“The community has been an absolute godsend,” Crystal said.