‘Terrifying’: Mother heartbroken after son critically hurt in Marion County head-on crash

MARION COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Last week, 24-year-old Andrew Kilkenny was on his way to work from Johnsonville on Highway 378 near Highway 9 when his Dodge Charger crashed head-on with a Kia Forte.

Kilkenny’s mother, Nicole Gonzalez, said that due to the severity of the crash, her son has since had both of his legs amputated and both his spleen and appendix removed along with many other surgeries.

She said that Kilkenny has already gone through life-saving operations and remains on life support, saying that he’s unable to breathe on his own with all of his major organs being lacerated.

“To see Andrew like that, is just . . . it’s terrifying as a mom,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said her son was taken to McLeod Hospital in Florence. She said Kilkenny is a hard-working diesel mechanic, a loving father to his 2-year-old daughter and a prankster brother to his five other siblings.

She said to see her son stuck in a hospital bed is hard when he’s a handy-man that likes to work on cars, go fishing, camping and all things outdoors.

“Right now he’s just fighting to hold on because he’s paralyzed right now,” Gonzalez said. “His intestines, his liver, his kidneys. They were all lacerated, and so they were all swollen up. So they had to open them and leave them open. Then he went in for a fourth surgery to take his leg. They winded up having to take both of his legs.”

She said as her son remains in the hospital, she worries about the amount of bills that will continue to pile up. Before the crash happened, she said he had called her, excited about making his first down payment on his home next week. Now, with him out of work and her in South Carolina to help from Pennsylvania, she’s unsure what to do.

“It’s scary, because I can’t pull that kind of money in. I mean, we’re down here, we’re not even working,” Gonzalez said. “So there’s, I can’t help him the way a mom should be able to.” It’s a lot to take in and to try to understand right now. I don’t care about my bills. I’m just trying to figure out Andrew’s.”

As Kilkenny remains in the hospital, she said that she will stay by his side, praying every day for his recovery.

“He always lightened up your day,” she said. “You know, if somebody needed help, he would never hesitate to help.”

His family has made a GoFundMe to help pay for his medical bills to rebuild his life after the crash.

News13 reached out to the South Carolina Highway Patrol for more information on the crash. We have yet to hear back.

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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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