Influencer family of 10 speaks out after hit-and-run crash with 3-week-old in car
A Los Angeles family, famous online for viral content involving a couple and their eight children, is speaking out after a hit-and-run car crash in Los Angeles this week while all eight children were in the car, including a three-week-old.
Johnetta and Hashim Lafond said they were driving southbound on California State Route 170 with their eight children in the car when they were struck from behind during a rainstorm.
"We spun around and we're sliding and turning, and we hit the divider," Hashim Lafond told ABC News in an interview on Thursday.
Johnetta Lafond described the harrowing minutes that followed as the family was stuck facing the wrong way on the highway in the rain.
"We realized we're facing oncoming traffic," she said. "We just see all these cars, like, coming at us at full speed. And it was just like, just blow your horn, flash your lights, because vision is, you know, impaired."
She said each time a car would pass, they would "brace for impact."
The parents said during the crash they witnessed tender moments of siblings caring for one another, including one son holding onto a newborn to keep the baby in a secure position. "I thought he was a hero," Hashim Lafond said.
He added he saw another sister comforting her sibling who was hyperventilating.
Eventually, the fire department was able to block off the road and EMTs transported the family to the same hospital, according to the parents.
Both Johnetta and Hashim Lafond said the group seemed to be "all safe," though they were sore for the days following the accident and continuing to monitor symptoms while planning to visit a chiropractor.
"We're grateful that, like, our car didn't flip over at any point in this, you know, situation. And yes, like, we're all safe, we're all OK," said Johnetta Lafond.
Hashim Lafond said at the moment of impact, he was primarily concerned with his family's safety.
"I wanted to make sure my wife and children were okay, before I checked on myself, I want to make sure they're all right. Then I can kind of pay attention to my body, but right then and there, I really needed to be protective," he said.
He said, "Sometimes it's like a dream, like, did we really survive that?"
The Lafond family has grown an online following posting content of their large family of 10. Both Johnetta Lafond and Hashim Lafond have garnered a following of over 40,000 followers each with their posts.
The family recently welcomed their eighth child earlier this month.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating crash.
After the collision, Hashim Lafond said he saw a driver get out of the vehicle that hit them.
"The person that hit us, I saw somebody get out of the car, and when they got out, they switched with another driver. They switched with somebody else and another person drove off," he said.
According to a report from the California Highway Patrol obtained by ABC News, on Monday afternoon officers with the CHP and LAFD responded to the scene of the crash where "it was determined a white Acura sedan collided with the rear end of a Ford van causing both vehicles to spin out on a wet roadway."
The report continued, "The Ford van collided with the center median and came to rest facing [the] wrong way in lanes."
The report said, "The driver of the Acura sedan fled the scene of the crash in the Acura and both the driver and Acura were later located."
The report noted the crash was pending further investigation by the CHP West Valley division.
The CHP said they could not identify the driver of the Acura due to the ongoing crash investigation.
