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Family, Friends Trying To Help DWI Crash Victim Recover Despite Lack Of Insurance

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A second victim from a deadly suspected DWI crash tied to a Tarrant Sheriff's employee remains in critical condition with brain damage.

The family of 21-year-old John Schambacher say they are optimistic he can recover, but with no insurance they are trying to find a way to get him into rehabilitation.

Schambacher's friends filled the backyard of the family's Fort Worth home Thursday.  One of his former classmates at Keller High School drove from Georgia to be there, after hearing he was involved in the deadly wreck.

They have been taking turns visiting him at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. He is heavily sedated with a breathing tube.

Schambacher was a passenger in a car Saturday night with his friend Amy Anders. She died when they were hit by a truck driven by Alan McKinney. The 29-year-old, who is suspended from his job with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office courtesy patrol, is facing an intoxication manslaughter charge.

In the Schambacher home Thursday a bird screeched in a cage in the kitchen. A large tortoise hid in an enclosure in the yard. His parents got out pictures of the other animals John used to rescue, including a goat.  They sat down in his bedroom to talk about him. An abstract design spirals out from the fan on the ceiling there. Art hangs on the walls.  His mother, Sue, says John painted it all himself.  The aspiring artist had even sold a few paintings in Southlake.

Family and friends are hopeful that when John wakes up some of the qualities that made him who he was will still be there. They do not know how to pay for it though. He had no insurance. His father Paul, a cancer survivor, has no insurance. Sue's coverage will only cover her. They've opened an account for donations, but they're really searching for a way to get him into rehab. Doctors told them it could work, if they can find a place for him.

"He's a 21 year old man just starting his adult life," Paul said. "Didn't do anything wrong, deserves a chance to have a good quality of life."
After the conversation Paul was outside on his cell phone, asking concerned friends who were calling, if they had any contacts in the medical field who might help find a place for his son. The only other option is a nursing home. It's not an option the family wants to consider.

"He's going to be different and he's going to need a lot of time to get to a certain point," Sue said. "We're hoping and praying we can get him back."

The family has an account set up at Frost Bank, called the Jonny Schambacher Benefit Fund.

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