Colfax community collecting funds for business owner injured in hit-and-run

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX —  Kyle’s Market, Mom’s Restaurant and Pub and Dollar General are collecting funds for medical expenses for Linda Salazar.

Salazar, the owner of Mom’s Restaurant and Pub, suffered critical injuries when she was struck by a passing vehicle while crossing Main Street at Fifth Avenue about 5:30 a.m. in Colfax on Friday, December 9, while on her way to the restaurant to start work for the day.

The vehicle that struck Salazar, age 67, did not stop and proceeded south on state Highway 40.

Salazar’s injuries include ten broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken leg, a broken ankle, a subdural hematoma on her brain, a broken arm and several internal injuries.

She remains hospitalized in the critical care unit at Mayo Eau Claire, and according to her daughter, Patti Houser, is not allowed any visitors right now other than family.

The driver of the vehicle, 37-year-old Jami Golden of Colfax, returned to the scene of the accident about 30 minutes later and was taken into custody.

Golden returned because she “thought she had hit something,” according to Dunn County Sheriff Dennis Smith.

Golden is charged with operating a motor vehicle without insurance; being involved in a hit and run accident causing great bodily harm; failure to notify police of an accident; and obstructed driver’s vision, which was due to frost on the car windows.

Kyle’s Market

At Kyle’s Market, customers can donate cash, can write checks over for the amount of the groceries to have the extra money go to Salazar, or people can add the amount to their credit card or debit card purchase.

“We are taking donations for Linda. You can add it to your receipt. You can add your change (to the donation) up to any denomination. On your receipt, it shows ‘Linda Salazar’ so you can use that for your tax receipt,” Kressin said.

“All donations are going directly to Linda,” he said.

“It’s a small community. Everybody here knows everybody. We decided we wanted to be part of it. We decided we wanted to do something to help,” Kressin said.

“Linda has been a great neighbor to Kyle’s Market, and that’s what neighbors do is help each other,” he said.

After the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside, Kyle’s Market also pitched in.

“We did this when 9-11 happened. But this is all staying local,” Kressin said.

Since there are no administrative fees associated with collections at Kyle’s Market, all of the money will go to Linda Salazar, he said.

“We will probably keep it going through the holidays and then see how it’s going then,” he said, noting that he anticipates other benefits and fund-raisers will be organized too.

A Go Fund Me page on the Internet has been set up for Salazar as well. 

In the interest of full disclosure, readers should note that Go Fund Me deducts a 5 percent fee from each donation received and also deducts a processing fee of 3 percent from each donation.

You can find the Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/lindas-medical-and-recovery-fund.

As of Monday morning, the Go Fund Me page for Linda Salazar had raised $8,310 of a $100,000 goal.

Mom’s

Houser, Salazar’s daughter, said people can also donate for Linda’s medical expenses at Mom’s.

“We’ve collecting here at the restaurant, too,” she said.

Houser said she also is planning to set up an account for Salazar at Dairy State Bank.

“We just got a special tax ID number. I have to go over to the bank to get the account set up,” she said.

Houser anticipated that the account at Dairy State Bank would be ready to accept donations sometime this week.

“People have been donating here, and the tips are all going (for Linda),” Houser said.

The response from the community has been “overwhelming. It has been amazing. And it has been lots of little things, too. Somebody offering to pay for our towels or to run errands. Somebody went and got me some cheese,” she said.

Salazar’s doctors have been debating whether to put plates on her ribs to stabilize them, which would help for the pain and make it easier to breathe.

According to Facebook posts from Salazar’s daughter Angie Winslow, Salazar’s ribs are beginning to heal, and surgeons have not yet decided on the next course of action.

Salazar has been on a ventilator to help with her breathing, and she has been sedated to help her rest.

“They have taken her off the sedation meds. She had an eight hour surgery the other day,” Houser said.

In addition to Salazar’s other injuries, one arm suffered a severe break, and according to Facebook postings, her elbow was “floating” and needed to be repaired.

When Salazar came out of the surgery, hospital staff wrapped her cast in a purple bandage.

Anyone who has been in Mom’s Restaurant and Pub and knows anything about Salazar knows that she is a huge Green Bay Packers fan.

Salazar’s daughters hoped that the purple wrap, the color of the Minnesota Vikings, could be changed before she was fully aware of the bandage.

Dollar General

Dollar General in Colfax also is accepting cash donations for Salazar. 

The store started collecting donations on December 9, the day of the accident.

Since Salazar was crossing Main Street at Fifth Avenue when she was struck — she was essentially right out in front of the Dollar General location. 

Customers at Dollar General can put their donations into a special container earmarked for Linda Salazar located by the cash register.

Fund raisers

As for other fund raisers, Houser said several community members have offered to coordinate events to raise money for Linda’s medical expenses.

“We don’t know how to do any of that, so we’re grateful to have people willing to volunteer,” Houser said. 

Others have said, too, that they would be willing to work at a fund raiser, she noted.

Golden

Golden is scheduled for an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court on January 10 on the traffic charges.

As of Monday morning, Golden remained in custody at the Dunn County jail on a probation hold.

According to the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website, Golden pleaded guilty to manufacturing and delivering methamphetamine in Dunn County Circuit Court in May of 2014. 

Judge Rod Smeltzer sentenced Golden to nine months in jail and placed her on four years of probation in September of 2014. 

At the time of a 2012 Dunn County case in which Golden was found guilty of obstructing an officer but also had initially been charged with possession of methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, she lived in Boyceville. 

Salazar’s daughters have vowed to keep Mom’s Restaurant and Pub open while their mother is recuperating from her injuries.

Mom’s has typically been open seven days a week, but because of the severity of their mother’s injuries and the desire to spend time at the hospital with her whenever they can, Houser and Winslow say they are closing the restaurant on Wednesdays for the time being.