Triad City Beat’s publisher, Brian Clarey, and his family need your help!

Featured photo: Brian, Jill and their son Ross were in a horrible car accident on Aug. 30 and are recovering in a hospital in Virginia.

As many of you may have already seen, on Friday, Aug. 30, Triad City Beat‘s publisher, Brian Clarey, and his wife Jill and son Ross were in a horrific accident on their way to Boston.

The three were driving to Boston to drop Ross off for school when their SUV collided with an 18-wheeler. Thankfully, all three of them survived.

In the aftermath of the accident, the three were sent to a hospital in Charlottesville where they have been staying for the last three days. While they are all conscious, each of them has sustained serious injuries and have been undergoing surgeries for multiple broken bones.

Since then, Jill’s sister, Jodi, has started a fundraiser via GoFundMe to help pay for the family’s medical costs. So far, the community has rallied and raised more than $65,000 for the family.

From the fundraiser: “This family has a very long road ahead of them to heal. I’m trying to help raise money so that this doesn’t financially ruin their family. Please donate what you can and pray for everyone involved. Thank you!”

It is not clear when the family will be released but it’s expected that each of their recoveries will be long and difficult.

Triad City Beat was started by Brian and two of his close friends and former staffers, Jordan Green and Eric Ginsburg, from Yes! Weekly 10 years ago. They had a big dream to start a little paper that could change the landscape of local news and they’ve accomplished that.

As far as the newsroom goes, we will be okay.

Since starting 10 years ago, Brian’s role has shifted from being an editor-in-chief to more of a publisher-owner role so our day-to-day editorial operations won’t be impacted.

That means that we’ll continue to put out issues (our next one hits the streets this Thursday) and stories online.

The only thing that you’ll be missing for now, is Brian’s weekly editorial column.

For those needing editorial questions answered, please email [email protected]. For advertisers and business requests, please reach out to [email protected].

In the last few days, we’ve been talking to Brian who is able to text and chat on the phone. He is in a lot of pain but has been grateful for the support.

“I haven’t been this banged up in a long time. And I can’t even describe how much it pains me to see my wife and child in here with me,” he wrote in a message. “But we are all on the mend, and hopefully will be home in a few days.

“I’m so honored that people are interested in my work. And I have to credit this crackerjack staff who is able to keep things going on without me, at least as well as when I’m actually in the room, and probably somewhat better.

“I’m so thankful for everyone who’s donated to our GoFundMe campaign as I am for everyone who continues to consume our new products and work at Triad City Beat to help keep everybody informed. The news never stops they say, but sometimes it takes a breather.”

We appreciate the outpouring of support the newsroom has gotten in the last few days since the news broke about the accident. But what we really want is for the community to rally around the family now and support them in any way they can.

Brian and his family have been instrumental in shaping the landscape of community journalism this last decade and we would love for you to show them that support now.

Thanks again for everyone who has reached out and we’ll keep you posted.