SEAL BEACH : Fund Established for Pair Hurt in Crash

The future looked bright for Rigoberto Palanco and his nephew Cornelio Escobedo on the evening of Nov. 12 as they sat on a bench in front of Rossmoor Center waiting for their bus ride home to Santa Ana.

The pair had just gotten off work at the nearby Rossmoor Pastries, where their hard work was respected by both the owners and customers. That weekend, they had planned to go shopping for a car.

Everything changed in an instant that night when a car driven by an 87-year-old woman slammed into the bus bench. Palanco suffered broken ribs and a broken leg. Both of Escobedo’s arms were broken.

But the injuries were only the beginning of their troubles. Neither man has medical insurance, and they simply can’t afford to pay the thousands of dollars racked up in doctors’ bills.

In a bid to help, the bakery shop’s owners have established a fund for Palanco, 34, and Escobedo, 21. About $2,000 has been raised in the last two weeks.

“People have been very kind,” said Charles Feder, who co-owns the bakery. “It’s really sweet to know how much (the bakery and the two employees) mean to the community.”

Feder said that both men are “really good” employees. They were hired three years ago as floor sweepers but soon began helping with the baking.

Feder learned of the accident minutes after it happened when someone came running into the store to say that his employees had been in an accident and were calling for him.

When Feder came upon the accident scene, “it looked like a MASH unit out there,” he said, referring to a mobile army surgical hospital.

Palanco, who was hurt less seriously than Escobedo, was able to help another injured woman stuck under the car, he said. A second woman, 80-year-old Marion Lawrence of Seal Beach, was killed in the crash.

Both men are out of the hospital and at home recuperating. Palanco should be back at work by the end of the month. Escobedo will probably require physical therapy and isn’t expected to return to the bakery until at least February.

Lacking insurance, both men have had trouble finding doctors willing to treat them, Feder said. They hope that eventually the driver’s insurance company will pay some of their medical bills.

Anyone interesting in making a donation can send a check made out to the Rossmoor Pastries Fund to Farmer & Merchants Bank, P.O. Box 2941, Seal Beach, Calif. 90740.