Sikh community raises ₹1.29 cr for boy who lost family in US car crash

The Sikh community in New Jersey’s Carteret is rallying to support an 11-year-old boy who survived a head-on crash in Virginia that killed his parents and sister last week.

The community has so far raised more than $180,000 ( ₹1.29 crore) for him and his future, New York Post reported.

Yashveer lost his parents Gurmeet Singh, 44, and Jasleen Kaur, 38, and his 6-year-old sister after a pickup truck driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into their minivan in Virginia on August 15. Yashveer has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at a relative’s home.

“In this immensely unfortunate moment, while we all get together to pray to almighty to rest their souls in peace, we are also praying for the speedy recovery of Yash,” a description reads on Yashveer Singh’s GoFundMe page.

“While nobody can ever fulfil the void in Yash’s life, as friends and family, the least we can do is to come together and contribute our share for the medical expenses of Yash, funeral expenses of the family, and more importantly, contribute towards the future of Yash. No contribution is big or small,” reads the description.

Rosa Diaz, superintendent of Carteret schools, said the entire borough was torn up about what happened to him. “As expected, this has been an extremely difficult time for our community,” Diaz was quoted by New York Post as saying.

The school district has decided to accept donations to support Yashveer, in addition to his GoFundMe page, which was started by people close to the Singh family, who describe themselves as “Gurmeet’s Friends Family”.

“We are setting up a Trust Fund that only Yash can withdraw from in instalments once he is 18,” said the GoFundMe organisers.

Gurmeet came to America from New Delhi as an adult and worked as an independent wholesaler, reported NJ.com. The family lived in Carteret for about 10 years and the children attended local schools, said their former neighbour Pinal Singh.