Adult siblings Jeffrey and Brookanne Clark, who both live with muscular dystrophy and are wheelchair-bound, are rallying local support for their caregiver after an allegedly drunk driver plowed through her family’s home nearly a month ago.
Single mother Tayler Yeager and her children were asleep in their one-story rental home in Rowlett when an allegedly drunk driver in a silver Chevy pickup truck turned their lives upside down. The driver, who was being pursued by police, crashed the vehicle into the front of the family’s home on September 25 at about 2:20 a.m.
Yeager told NBC DFW that she woke up to the sound of her son screaming and the sight of her demolished dining room. The truck had come to a stop only feet away from where her nephew had been sleeping.
Seeing that the pathway to her children’s room was blocked, she went outside to find police officers with their guns drawn, ready to arrest the driver. Her children were able to escape the house through the window.
None of the home’s occupants were hurt in the incident, but the collision left the house structurally unstable, meaning they would have to find somewhere else to live.
“Every time I came back in the house, it was really hard to look at everything. I would break down in tears,” said Yeager, per NBC. “I would come in to get clothing and supplies, and I would literally leave things there because I was just … it was discombobulating every time you went in the house.”
Despite the collision and its aftermath, Yeager continued her role as caretaker of the Clark siblings, reporting to work a day after the incident.
Yeager has cared for Jeffrey and Brookanne and helped them with their everyday activities for eight years, prompting them to see her and her children as family. Jeffrey said that Yeager fulfills the roles of their “arms and legs.”
“Anything that you take for granted or that you do without thinking, we have to have someone do for us, and that’s what Tayler does for us,” said Brookanne, per NBC.
Brookanne subsequently organized a GoFundMe page to help Yeager pay for clothes, furniture, rent, and other expenses for a new home. As of Monday evening, the page had exceeded its initial goal of $6,000, with 11 donations totaling $7,364.
Yeager expressed her gratitude for the siblings and the community’s support in helping her family regain their footing.
“She fights for us, me and my kids,” said Yeager, per NBC. “It means a lot for me for her to do that for us.”
