A husband and father of seven who passed away in a car accident last week is being mourned by a family in Wisconsin.
Derrick Allen, 48, was hit by a car on Monday while he was crossing Kennedy Road and Northport Drive on the north side of Madison. He was pronounced brain dead and passed away in the hospital on Wednesday.
LaToya Moss, his wife, claimed that losing her spouse had changed her life. Allen also fought cancer for five years.
“Knowing that he had cancer, we thought that that was the way my husband was going to go,” Moss stated. “Not knowing that we were going to have a tragic incident walking through a crosswalk, right?”
Allen has been coping with pancreatic cancer in stage 4, which had spread to multiple body areas. Nevertheless, LaToya claims he continued to struggle on all levels—spiritually, intellectually, and physically.
“He journeyed and scowled through books. He liked to do sound meditation and healing and go on walks,” she stated.
Prior to his sickness forcing him to quit, Allen had worked at Monona Terrace. He eventually trained as a Reiki practitioner and discovered tranquility in nature and meditation.
According to LaToya, her husband was visiting a neighboring relative and bringing food for their child when the collision occurred. When a community member called while she was en route to pick them up, everything changed.
“I went to the hospital and met the ambulance there and met the doctor with some large news, life-changing news, that affects seven children,” she stated.
The family was given seventy-two hours by the doctors to pray for a miracle. However, scans revealed severe internal injuries and no brain activity.
“There was no fighting chance,” Moss stated. “The impact of that car did the damage, and what we now have is that my husband is no longer on this side of the Earth.”
She claimed that she doesn’t know who the driver was and that the police informed her that the complete report would take weeks or even months.
LaToya claims she has no resentment, though.
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“I send positive energy to that person,” she stated. “This was life-changing for him and his family as well.”
She wishes for change, safer roads, greater awareness, and fewer tragedies as a result of her husband’s story.
“Hopefully, Monday was the last day that this happened to someone,” she stated. “That tremendously impacts two families.”
Allen has seven children, the youngest of whom is four years old. There will be a memorial service.
Additionally, a GoFundMe has been established on the family’s behalf.
