Victim still recovering after wrong-way driver on I-394 causes deadly crash

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - On May 2 around 3:30 a.m., Minnesota State Patrol received a call about a driver going the wrong way on I-394 near Dunwoody Boulevard. Seconds later, another call came in—the wrong-way driver had crashed into another car.

The wrong way driver, 30-year-old Ronnell E. Ross of Clarks Grove, Minn., was killed in the crash, while the driver of the other car was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Two weeks later, the sole survivor of that crash is still at Hennepin County Medical Center recovering from his injuries.

Carlos Floersch, 46, suffered a broken back, broken scapula, three broken ribs, and intensive intestinal damage.

Floersch has told family that he feels lucky to be alive.

“I thank god that I’m here,” Floersch told his sister, Jenny Floersch. “I could have been paralyzed, brain dead, I could have been dead.”

Floersch is the provider in his family. He was on his way to work at a St. Paul foundry when the crash occurred.

“He would work three jobs if he could to support his family. That’s how he was. All about his family,” said Jenny Floersch.

Floersch’s doctors have told him he likely won’t be released from the hospital until late summer, and he will never be able to return to his physically demanding job.

On top of that, Floersch’s insurance is only covering a small fraction of his hospital stay.

“We’re still in shock,” said Tina Floersch. “There is a fear. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Now, the mother of his three children says she believes they’re destined to go into debt.

The family has started a GoFundMe page in hopes of relieving some of the burden.