Crash at Hanford site sent 6 to hospitals. Fundraiser started for seriously injured worker

A Hanford worker is recovering after a vanpool crash on the nuclear reservation that sent six people to area hospitals.

Hanford workers and others have donated about $4,500 in a GoFundMe fundraiser to help the family of Derek Drake as he is out of work and his wife takes time off to care for him.

Drake’s neck was broken in three places, with an additional five broken vertebrae in his back, according to the fundraiser. His face suffered major cuts in two places, one extending to his tear duct.

On Jan. 26, Drake was one of five Hanford workers in a Benton Franklin Transit vanpool van headed to work at about 5:30 a.m. on Route 4 North in the secure section of the nuclear reservation.

The van was T-boned by a Toyota Venza that ran a stop sign as it was traveling east on Route 11, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

The van rolled and came to a stop again on its wheels, according to the sheriff’s office report.

All five workers in the van and the driver of the Toyota were taken to hospitals in the Tri-Cities or Yakima.

Drake “has A LOT of healing and physical therapy ahead of him,” the fundraiser said.

Drake’s family posted on Facebook that he was discharged from Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, Wash., three days after the crash and was thankful to be home. At the time he was using a neck brace and was able to walk.

He and his wife have two small children.

This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 12:59 PM.