Huntington Beach family struggles to find new home after SUV slams into their house
While they're lucky to be alive, a young Huntington Beach family is forced to find another place to leave after an SUV destroyed their home.
"Our bed was here," mother Julianne McCarron said as she surveyed her damaged home. "Where the beams are, my daughter's bed was right on the other side of that."
McCarron's bedroom looks more like a demolished mess now, with dust and debris covering the floor and a huge hole in the wall boarded up by a slab of plywood.
McCarron, her boyfriend Chris Lepe and their baby were the only ones home when the SUV came barreling through the side of their Huntington Beach home Friday morning. It came crashing through her bedroom as she was changing her 10-month-old baby's diaper.
According to authorities, the driver that crashed into the home had a medical emergency and was hospitalized but has recovered
"Super just thankful and grateful that they didn't get hurt," said Lepe. "Just how close they were to the impact and all that."
The home, which the family was renting was yellow-tagged, forcing the family to find a new place to live while the landlord makes repairs, which may take up to a year to fix.
"The housing market is so slim and so expensive," said McCarron. "No. 1 is to get into a new home and have stability for our children."
Since the couple doesn't have renters' insurance they have to stay with family and pay bills out of pocket until the driver's insurance can sort things out.
"With having a family, and inflation, money is tight," said McCarron said.
For right now, they are turning to their faith. Despite everything around it being destroyed, a photo of the Virgin Mary happens to be untouched.
"I do really feel that an angel or God was protecting us," said McCarron.
While it has been a rough stretch of days, the family has had many people helping them through this difficult time. Since they won't be living at the home, their landlord returned their rent and the family has raised $10,000 in their GoFundMe.