Relative: Family expected to recover from wreck

Parents, baby badly hurt on Liberty Bridge

The young family badly hurt in a Liberty Bridge crash this week is recuperating under intensive care, buoyed by a deluge of support, a relative said Friday.

Brandon and Maureen White Ciampaglia of Brookline were driving home with their infant son, Liam, when the three-car wreck happened Tuesday afternoon. They had just left West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield after she gave birth four days earlier, said her brother-in-law Dante A. Ciampaglia, 35, of New York.

“They are — all three — expected to recover, go home and then begin the long, long process of healing and getting better,” Mr. Ciampaglia said.

He said the couple were awake and talking Friday, when they saw each other for the first time since the collision. Both are at UPMC Mercy. A date for their return home had not been set.

“It’s tough because they’re both in pain. But them being together — you could tell that was a huge relief to both of them,” Mr. Ciampaglia said. He said Liam, “a strong, strong little man,” is making progress at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Pittsburgh police were still investigating Friday the crash and

its cause, public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said. They have said another motorist drove a sport utility vehicle in the wrong lane near the Downtown end of the bridge.

That driver was upgraded to good condition Tuesday at UPMC Presbyterian, according to police. They have not released his name. A third driver declined medical attention after the crash. Authorities closed the bridge over the Monongahela River for more than three hours after the crash.

Since then, to support the Ciampaglia family, donors have given more than $28,000 to an online fundraising effort backed by the National Association of EMS Educators. The campaign at www.gofundme. “will help this family get back on their feet when they rebuild their lives together,” said Joann Freel, executive director at the association.

“The outpouring of prayers and donations has really touched us,” Mrs. Freel said.

Brandon Ciampaglia, 34, is communications coordinator at the Mt. Lebanonbased association and his wife, 33, is the customer service coordinator at Pittsburgh CLO. Their relatives have been at Mercy and Children’s hospitals “pretty much nonstop,” Dante A. Ciampaglia said.

He said the fundraiser contributions will help the family navigate the coming months. Their expenses will include medical care and a new car, Mr. Ciampaglia said.

They also will need assistance once they get home, he said.

“We all appreciate the thoughts and prayers and well wishes and kind words and everything that we’re getting from everywhere,” Mr. Ciampaglia said. “It’s really been overwhelming, in the best possible way, to see the outpouring of love for this family and these three people.”