A car crash on Highway 59 between Gillette and Douglas Sunday night has one family reeling and another recovering.
Donations have been pouring into fundraisers for the families of Andrew Winter of Torrington, who was traveling to Gillette, and Cody Thomas, who was in training to be a Buffalo police officer.
Thomas was on his way to the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas when the head-on collision occurred.
The crash killed Winter and sent Thomas to Banner Wyoming Medical Center for treatment.
Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman Aaron Brown said a crash report for the incident on Highway 59 has not yet been completed. The head-on crash was called into the department at 8:42 p.m. and no cause has yet been determined, he said.
For Ashley Winter, the loss of her husband, and the father of their three children hits hard. She said they had been married for 11 years and together for 16.
“He brought a smile to every room, and he had a great personality,” she said. “He cared the most for his kids. When I was pregnant, our daughter was born with special needs, and he could have walked away and he stayed. He was her safe haven.”
When their daughter was born with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder causing weak muscles and learning challenges, she was airlifted for specialty care and Andrew Winter went with her.
“He got to bond first with her and they’ve had a special bond ever since,” Ashley Winter said.
Ashley Winter said her daughter, now 15, still does not understand that her dad is gone. She said Andrew Winter was a “fishing buddy” to their 13-year-old daughter and taught her how to filet fish as well as change the oil on the car.
For their son, 10, his dad enjoyed playing computer games such as Fortnite with him.
Dance Parties
“We always had dance parties in the garage where dad would embarrass himself,” Ashley Winter said.
Ashley Winter’s sister, Courtney Simmons, started a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with the funeral and other expenses related to the loss.
While she has a job, her income was only a third of her husband’s and does not even cover their monthly mortgage payment, Ashley Winter said. She is thankful for the community’s support and help.
“We are overwhelmed by it, and we appreciate everything that everybody has been doing so far,” she said. “It’s going to be a long road; I really don’t know how we are going to be able to survive without him.”
Ashley Winter said a celebration of her husband’s life is being planned at the Torrington Elks Lodge for Friday, March 13. She said she feels “extremely bad” for the other driver and his family involved in the crash.
“We don’t know what they are going through,” she said.
For Thomas and his wife, Courtney, her sister, Chantel Alcarez started a GoFundMe drive to help the family weather the incident. Alcarez wrote that the collision resulted in a life flight for Thomas to Casper.
Alcarez described her brother-in-law as a “devoted father of four children” whose “dream of serving and protecting others has been put on hold.”
“Cody is the most selfless man, father, and husband I know,” she wrote. “He is always the first to offer his time, his home, or a meal to someone in need — even to strangers.”
In an update Tuesday to her initial post on Monday, Alcarez reported Thomas was back home and “beginning to heal.”
At the Buffalo Police Department, Capt. Garth Nicholas Tuesday said that Thomas, who he estimated was in his “late ‘30s,” is expected to return to the department and at some point resume his academy training.
“All things considered, he is doing good.” Nicholas said. He said Thomas previously worked for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in its detention division.
Thomas started the Peace Officer Basic training in January and had been scheduled to finish it in early April, Nicholas said.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
