By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

A fund-raising event for two young sisters and their family was a success Friday as members of the community gathered to help.

The two women, 20-year-old Amanda Athey and her sister Lydia, 15, were hit head-on at a high speed by a the driver of a Toyota pick up Oct. 22 on South Prairie Road and 234th Avenue East.

The sisters suffered multiple leg fractures, which have required numerous surgeries.

Amanda was able to attend the fund-raiser with her parents, Gordie and Lisa, but Lydia was undergoing another surgery on her legs.

According to her parents, she is expected to be home this week.

Josette Ziemke organized the fund-raiser to help the family pay medical bills, build a down-stairs shower and purchase a wheelchair-accessible van.

Lydia is unable to walk at this point and Amanda is able to use crutches, but cannot put any weight on her shattered heel.

The event was at the Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship, 23711 Entwhistle Rd. E., Buckley, from 6 to 9 p.m.

&#8220It really went well,” Ziemke said. &#8220The church opened their doors to us and it turned out to be a wonderful evening.”

Community members, friends, family and East Pierce Fire and Rescue workers attended the gathering for the sisters

East Pierce Assistant Chief Russ McCallion said at the time of the accident he had never seen &#8220such complete destruction and the people survive.”

The driver and the passenger of the Toyota also survived with injuries.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.

The following is a letter by Gordie Athey recounting the night of the accident.

On the night of Oct. 22, Lisa and I had just gotten into bed and I was starting to dose off when we both heard a loud crash followed by the sound of metal scraping along the road.

We both knew that there had been a car wreck and it sounded really bad. I thought that someone had ran through the stop sign on 234th Avenue East and South Prairie Road, which has happened many times. I could not figure out how the vehicle would have slid down the road.

Lisa opened the blinds and we could see some headlights stopped on the road on a crest of a hill on South Prairie Road. We then heard a woman say, &#8220There are people trapped inside - call 911.” We did not know who she was yelling to, so I reached for the phone.

Josh (my son) was just leaving to take his girlfriend home when we asked him to see if he could find out anything about the accident. After we kept seeing more and more emergency vehicles arrive we knew something bad had happened.

Lisa asked me to call our daughter Amanda to make sure she was OK. She did not answer. Lisa started to pace and was worried. I was positive that it could not be Amanda, who had taken Lydia to Target for some shopping.

I called Josh to find out if he had seen anything. He said that he could not see the cars. We told him Amanda was not answering her phone and could he please drive over and see if he could make sure that it was not Amanda and Lydia.

Josh drover over on 234th and the police officer said he &#8220knew nothing and his job was just traffic control.” Josh drove around to the South Prairie Road side and asked an officer if it was a red car. The officer said yes. Josh then asked, &#8220Are there two girls inside?” The officer again said yes.

Josh called and Lisa answered and I heard her ask, &#8220Are they still alive?”

We started to walk down the road to where the accident was and as soon as Lisa saw the car she stopped and could not go any further. She was sure that they were dead. I was still not positive that it was our car; the car did not look familiar. As I got closer I saw the handle to the back door and I knew it was a car like ours.

As I looked over at Lisa and saw the terror on her face, I prayed they were alive. I knew that if they were dead it would be more than we could take.

An officer called to me from behind, &#8220Mr. Athey?”

That was when I knew it was Amanda and Lydia. Knowing what we heard and seeing the car, I was sure they were dead. I walked toward the officer and he said that they were responsive, which I have heard before with auto accidents and you later hear they had died.

The officer repeated, &#8220They were responsive and being taken care of.”

I turned around and started back to the car when the officer said, &#8220Sir you can not go up there.”

&#8220Can't I at least talk to them?” I asked. &#8220Let them know we are here, hold their hand or something?”

He said no, that there are people talking to them and they needed their space.

I could not stay put and I started back to the car again when an officer came down and said that they were not there. Lydia was being airlifted to Harborview and Amanda was on her way to Good Samaritan Hospital.

I called my friend, Jim Rice, and told him to start a prayer chain through our church.