At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Maria Ochoa Bravo called her brother to check if he was almost home. Juan Ochoa Bravo, his wife and their four children were returning to Bend after a visit to Mexico. It was a long drive, but the family made the trip every two or three months so they could be close to family.

Maria said Juan let her know they were almost home before setting his eyes on the stretch of U.S. Highway 97 that slices through southern Oregon forests. It would be another four hours before Maria would get a call that would change her life forever: Five members of the family had died in an accident two miles north of the intersection of Highway 97 and state Highway 58.

“It still feels like a dream. It’s not real,” Maria said in Spanish on Friday. “I’m heartbroken.”

As Juan and his family traveled north in a minivan — wife Eve Saldana Alcantar, 37, son Erik Ochoa Saldana, 18, daughters Jennifer Ochoa Saldana, 15 and Emily Ochoa Saldana, 11 and the baby, 1-year-old Juan David Ochoa Saldana — the driver of a Peterbuilt semi-truck and trailer headed south. The roads were slick, but at least it wasn’t wave after wave of snow that had pummeled the Pacific Northwest for the last week.

Oregon State Police said Iskanyan Avetis Vardani, the Peterbilt driver, saw the minivan lose control. He acted fast, swerving onto the shoulder of the highway, but the massive truck was too slow. He collided with the van’s passenger side, sending it spinning into the other lane at 9:45 a.m.

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Family killed in Highway 97 crash was from Bend; victims include 1-year-old boy

By the time emergency responders arrived, only Emily — sweet and shy Emily — held on to life. Paramedics swiftly loaded the child into a helicopter and took her to the emergency room at St. Charles Bend.

Maria rushed to St. Charles, where she was able to see her niece for the first time after the accident. If Emily wakes up, how will she react to the news that she’d lost her whole family, Maria wondered.

Emily was later transported OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, where aunts, uncles and cousins living in the city rushed to her side. But others from father away, Maria included, still have not reached the hospital as they battle the same dangerous road conditions that caused the accident.

“If I was speaking with her, I would tell her to keep fighting for her life — that we are all here for her and she has a big family behind her supporting her,” said Emily’s cousin, Clemente Lemus.

Doctors in Portland are still waiting for the swelling in Emily’s head to go down before taking her into surgery. When she arrived, she had a fractured skull and multiple blood clots.

But Lemus said Emily’s uncle — who is with Emily in Portland — said Friday she was doing better.

“She was so caring and would follow you around and tug on your shirt letting you know she was there with you,” said Lemus of the child, who attended Bear Creek Elementary.

Now, Emily’s family lets her know they are there by doing the same. Friday, they were rewarded when Emily, though still unconscious, began responding to movement and the loving embraces of those at her bedside.

For the moment, though, family members are forced to contend with the grief wrought from the deaths of Juan, Eve, Erik, Jennifer and Juan David. In Mexican tradition, Maria explained, families pray for nine days and nine nights for their loved ones. On this second day after losing her brother, the ritual and the support from those around her, brings a semblance of relief to Maria.

To help Maria with funeral costs and Emily’s medical bills, Lemus and another family member, Pedro Molina, have started GoFundMe accounts: Pedro Molina’s GoFundMe and Clemente Lemus’ GoFundMe. As of Friday afternoon, they had raised almost $30,000.

“Thank you for the Bend and Oregon community for their donations,” Maria said.

Maria and Lemus told The Bulletin that the family they lost was the definition of love. They were kind, traditional and always thinking about others, Maria said. Eve was a stay-at-home mom and Juan had his own construction crew in Bend.

Now all they have is Emily.

“We hope for a miracle so she can fully recover and be her normal self again even though that’s hard to ask for knowing what has happened,”

Lemus said.