Young Army Veteran Seriously Injured in Highway 20 Crash

A 22-year-old Army veteran is paralyzed from the chest down after the car he was driving went off Highway 20 and down a steep embankment near mile marker 24.3 on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 22.

Tony Schultz, the veteran's brother-in-law, told MendoLocal.News that Thomas Montaudon was driving from Willits to Fort Bragg with his father, Chuck Montaudon, when the crash occurred. Montaudon was driving a 2000 Ford Mustang GT he had recently purchased to drive to school, Schultz said.

The California Highway Patrol confirmed the basic details of the crash and said it is under investigation.

Schultz said Montaudon was slowing down when a passenger-side tire went off the roadway. As Montaudon tried to correct, the vehicle was pulled completely off the road and down the embankment.

"The CHP said it flipped 12 or 15 times," Schultz said.

Chuck Montaudon escaped with a concussion and bruises, Schultz said.

Montaudon suffered a spinal injury at the C6 level, is paralyzed from the chest down, and is on a ventilator, according to a GoFundMe campaign Schultz started for his brother-in-law.

Schultz said Montaudon was a 4.0 student at Taft Union High School in Taft, in Kern County, where he played baseball. He recently completed three and a half years of military service with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and was living in Willits and planning to attend school in the area.

Schultz, who is also a veteran, said the family is seeking financial help to cover expenses associated with Montaudon's recovery and long-term care.

"Our family is small and close-knit, and we have limited resources," Schultz wrote in the fundraiser. "We are rallying around him in every way we can."

The fundraiser says donations will help pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance, rehabilitation services, a hospital bed and other equipment for home use, in-home nursing visits, and transportation, including a wheelchair-accessible van.

"Every contribution will help us give him the care, equipment, and support he needs as we work to get him as independent as possible," Schultz wrote.

The family is asking those who cannot donate to share the fundraiser.