CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — It's never good when a journalist makes the news.
Brian Clarey, the executive editor and publisher of Triad City Beat was taking his youngest child to Boston with his wife on Friday, Aug. 30. Then, the unthinkable happened.
When the trio made it to Charlottesville, they were hit by an 18-wheeler truck.
Clarey sustained a broken collarbone, a brain bleed and a shattered pelvis from the crash.
Both his wife, Jill Clarey, and his son, Ross Clarey, are in the Intensive Care Unit with similar injuries.
"I was driving so I am consumed with guilt, so I just feel terrible about the whole thing. As for our kid, he's just kind of rolling with it," Clarey said.
All things considered, Clarey was in good spirits when he hopped on Zoom with WFMY News 2's Madelyn Ricket.
"We're lucky to be alive. I feel that very much in every cell of my being," said Clarey.
Clarey thanked everyone who donated to his fundraiser to cover medical bills and sang the praises of his team at Triad City Beat.
"I'm just so thankful for everybody who's contributed, for everybody who even cares about that this happened to our little family," said Clarey.
Clarey has been covering the Triad since 2000 in several local publications such as the News & Record, Our State, O. Henry magazine and Yes! Weekly, according to the Triad City Beat website.
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