Point Loma Nazarene University Professor Rob Gailey and his family were ordering lunch Tuesday when a car crashed into the restaurant and hit several members of the Gailey family, including former Nazarene missionaries Chuck and Doris.

Rob, Wanda, Joshua (15), Teresa (14), and Rob’s parents, retired Nazarene Theological Seminary professor Chuck and Doris, a retired MidAmerica Nazarene University professor, had just landed in Boston, Massachusetts, after attending Nazarene Compassionate Ministries' Compassion Conference, where Rob taught two workshops. The family intended to visit a friend at Eastern Nazarene College but decided to go to lunch first.

As they stood at the Wild Willy's Burgers counter to order, a 90-year-old man lost control of his car, which slammed through the restaurant wall and hit Rob, Teresa, and Wanda. Teresa was flipped on top of the car and Wanda’s leg was struck by the car’s bumper. Rob was pinned between the car and the wall behind the countertop, which collapsed when the car hit it. Chuck, Doris, and Joshua were all struck by debris from the collapsing wall and sustained bruising and minor cuts. The driver was unharmed.

In a restaurant security video, Doris is the first to recover as she tries to climb over the wreckage to reach Rob, Wanda, and Teresa. Chuck, who was knocked down by flying debris, gets up and immediately comes to help Doris. Rob, pinned against the wall, leans over to hug and console his daughter, Teresa.

Rob and Teresa were later pulled from the rubble and laid prone until paramedics arrived to rush them to the Quincy hospital, the same hospital Rob was born in before moving to Africa as a missionary kid at six weeks old.

Police and firemen commented later that they had never been to a disaster site of such magnitude where the injured people were so calm. Chuck said it was because they knew God was in control and they were in His hands. In the hospital’s emergency room and x-ray labs, the Gaileys showed interested medical personnel the restaurant security video of the crash and testified to the peace that God gives even in the midst of crisis.

Teresa has a fractured foot and head injury, while Wanda has a badly bruised leg and internal pain. Both are on crutches. They were discharged late Wednesday after CAT scans were negative for internal bleeding or liver damage, but are on 48-hour watch for concussions.

Rob was transferred by ambulance to Beth Israel Hospital, where he had a successful surgery Thursday morning to place pins in his leg to repair a serious break of his tibia plateau. He will be in the hospital for up to a week and cannot put any weight on his leg for three months. Rehabilitation and physical therapy will take up to six months.

The ENC community is surrounding them with love and prayers in addition to providing dorm rooms. Local Nazarenes are assisting the family with meals and transportation, and well-wishes have poured in by the hundreds from across the U.S., Africa, Asia, and Europe.  

The Gailey family thanks everyone for their prayers and hopes God will be glorified through the situation.

For video footage of the crash, click here. 

--NCN News submissions