The husband and father who barely survived the crash at a Robbinsdale intersection involving a man racing from police is making a strong recovery with a significant motivation: to help plan his wife's funeral.
John Gerding, 34, has been at North Memorial Health since July 8, when a Tesla broadsided the Crystal family's minivan at 36th and Orchard avenues N. after a brief pursuit by an officer who suspected the 20-year-old driver of speeding. Emily Gerding, also 34, did not survive.
John Gerding's injuries are extensive, according to family members: a broken collarbone, leg and wrist, a fracture to the base of his skull and a collapsed lung. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday that he was in stable condition.
"Funeral arrangements have not yet been made, as we're waiting for John to get better so he can be part of the funeral planning process," Luke Pherson, Emily's brother-in-law, said in an email Monday. "His recovery so far has been phenomenal, beyond anyone's expectations. He's awake and alert; talking, comprehending and grieving."
Pherson described John as "laser-focused on healing so that he can be there for his daughters. They still have not been able to see him yet. The family wants to wait until the [nasogastric] tube is removed first, so the girls don't get scared of him."
The girls, who were not with their parents as they returned home from a friend's bridal shower, are "doing very well," Pherson said. Eleanor, who turns 3 in less than two weeks, "is too young to fully understand what's happened. Emelia [6½ years old] understands and is processing it with a strength that inspires the rest of us."
Quintin Hudson of Minneapolis has been charged with fleeing police resulting in death and fleeing police resulting in great bodily harm. He also faces one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation. He remains jailed in lieu of $300,000 bail and is due back in court Aug. 8.
Video surveillance provided to the Star Tribune from a resident about two blocks from the crash scene showed the Tesla racing south on Orchard and blowing a stop sign without slowing at 38th, where cross traffic has no stop sign.