Denver teacher, fiancé seriously injured in deadly crash with drunk driver

DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver teacher and her fiancé were seriously injured in a deadly crash with a drunk driver. Now, the English department at Abraham Lincoln High School is raising money to help with her medical bills.

English teacher Thanh Nguyen, 24, and her fiancé, 25-year-old Khanh Nguyen, say they were in a head-on collision in Thornton last Friday.

The Thornton Police Department said the other driver, who died, was at fault, with alcohol suspected in the crash.

“Thanh called me when she woke up to let me know she would be missing the first day of school, which she was very upset about,” said Kathleen Frank, the English department senior team lead at Abraham Lincoln High School. “My initial reaction was just hoping she was going to be OK, and thanks to God, she is.”

Khanh was discharged from the hospital with two broken legs but has taken a rideshare to the hospital every day to see Thanh, who remains in the hospital a week later after a successful spinal surgery on Wednesday.

“Ninth graders love her. She really has a lot of connections, really good friendships with our students, really does a lot for them,” Principal Antonio Esquivel said. “Any time a tragedy happens, it’s very scary. … We connect with the Denver Public Schools mental health team and provide resources for any of our staff that might need to talk to somebody.”

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Denver Public Schools staff returned to the classrooms earlier this week, and students will return on Monday. The principal said in the meantime, Thanh’s roughly 90-120 students will be taught by substitute teachers or other teachers who may step in to help.

“Thanh, we love you and we can’t wait until you get back, and we know you’re going to have a speedy recovery. And everybody here is rooting for you and lots of prayers are going your way,” Esquivel said.

A GoFundMe for Thanh , started by Frank in the English department, had already received over $15,000 as of Friday night.

“Everyone is thinking about you constantly,” Frank said. “We are all so sorry this terrible accident happened, but everyone is praying for you, everyone is pulling for you and we have just a lot of faith that you’ll make a full recovery and you’ll be back here teaching our ninth graders before you know it.”

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