Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
5-Year-Old Girl Continues To Fight For Her Life After Crash Involving Kansas City Chiefs Assistant Coach Britt Reid
“My heart goes out to all those that were involved in the accident, in particular the family with the little girl who is fighting for her life,” Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Sunday night of the incident involving his son, Britt Reid. “From a human standpoint, my heart bleeds for everybody involved.”
A 5-year-old girl continues to fight for her life after a car crash involving Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid.
The crash occurred Thursday night just after 9 p.m.—days before the Chiefs appearance in Sunday’s Super Bowl—as Reid was getting on an interstate ramp near Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs' home. A car had run out of gas and pulled over on the entrance ramp and a second had pulled over to assist when Reid allegedly struck both vehicles.
A 4-year-old child who had been sitting in the back of one of the vehicles suffered “non-life threatening” injuries while a 5-year-old girl—who family members have identified as Ariel—was transported to an area hospital with “life threatening injuries,” according to a statement to Oxygen.com from the Kansas City Police Department.
According to a GoFundMe account set up by a relative, Ariel suffered “swelling” and “bleeding” in and around the brain. She hasn’t woken up since the crash.
“Ariel remains in the hospital in critical condition and is not awake,” organizer Tiffany Verhulst wrote in an update Sunday. “Thank you to everyone who has donated to support the family through this hard time, we are so grateful.”
As of Monday morning, the fundraising campaign had reached nearly $300,000 in donations for the girl and her family.
“Her mother is a single mom of 3 having to deal with this on her own due to [C]ovid restrictions, Ariel will be in the hospital for the foreseeable future, this is set up for the hospital bills, weeks of missed work that will come and any other expenses this causes her,” Verhulst wrote. “No child deserves to go through this, nor should any mother have to see her child like this.”
Police have not publicly released the names of those involved in the crash, but multiple media outlets including ESPN and local news outlet KMBC, have identified Reid as the driver of the Ram Laramie Sport that struck the two vehicles.
Police said just before the crash, a grey Chevy Impala had run out of gas and was stopped with its flashers on along a southbound entrance ramp onto I-435; however, police noted that the “battery was dying,” which could have impacted the brightness of the lights. The driver called his cousins for help and a second car—a Chevy Traverse—arrived at the scene and parked their vehicle south of the stalled Impala.
Police said a third car, identified as the white Ram Laramie Sport pickup, was traveling onto the entrance ramp and struck the left front of the stranded Chevy Impala before continuing on and slamming into the rear of the stopped Chevy Traverse. Neither driver, nor an adult passenger riding in the Traverse, were hurt; however, the two young children sitting in back seat of the Traverse were injured.
Police said “impairment” was under investigation in the crash.
According to police report obtained by ESPN, police said Reid’s eyes had appeared bloodshot and that the officer noticed “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages.” According to police, Reid allegedly admitted to having two or three drinks and said he was also taking a prescription for Adderall.
Reid complained of stomach pains and was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Police requested a blood draw for Reid to be taken at the hospital, according to KSHB.
“No charges have been filed,” officer Donna Drake, a spokesperson for the police department told Oxygen.com. “Crash investigations take several weeks. They typically involve crash reconstruction, interviews and other evidence gathering. Once the case is completed it will be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for consideration of applicable charges.”
Reid, who serves as the Chiefs’ outside linebackers coach, is the son of head coach Andy Reid.
Andy Reid briefly addressed the incident Sunday night after the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl 31-9.
“My heart goes out to all those that were involved in the accident, in particular the family with the little girl who is fighting for her life,” Andy Reid said, according to KMBC. “From a human standpoint, my heart bleeds for everybody involved.”
Britt Reid did not travel with the team to Tampa.
Britt Reid has a prior criminal past and was arrested in 2007 for pointing a handgun at another driver during a dispute, ESPN reported at the time.
He was sentenced to eight to 23 months in prison for that incident. The following year, he also pleaded guilty to DUI and drug charges after he drove into a shopping cart in a parking lot, the news outlet reports.
