Young man needs help after dad killed, mom hurt in alleged OWI crash

WAUKESHA, Wis. (WBAY) - A young man is now wrestling with big decisions after a suspected drunk driving crash killed his father, and left his mother fighting for her life in the hospital.

Authorities say last month, a truck driven by an Oshkosh man struck the vehicle driven by the parents of Caleb Hoffman in Fond Du Lac county.

His mother doesn’t know her husband has passed away yet. Caleb says he’s saving that conversation until she can speak again.

“He was a family guy above all else,” Caleb says about his dad. “He would work eighty hour weeks over at his job just to support the family. I wish I had another chance to tell him how much that meant to me.”

Between trips to the hospital and the need to take care of his mother’s household expenses while she’s unable to work, Caleb had to leave school at UW-Milwaukee to “keep the lights on.”

Caleb is thankful for support from his family, who has set-up a Gofundme to help with the financial burden; friends and neighbors are pitching in as well.

“The only reason my driveway is still clear is because my uncle who lives about five minutes away comes over, plows it for me, and says ‘have a good day,’” says Caleb. “That seems like such a little thing but if he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been able to get groceries today. It’s just little stuff like that-- it starts to pile up and it makes a huge difference.”

So far, the Gofundme has raised more than 7,000 dollars. If you would like to help Caleb with expenses, you can follow this link.

As for the man accused of driving drunk and causing the crash, Brian Sippel, he’ll appear in court for his preliminary hearing on March 9th.

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