Family of five shares story of survival following horrific wrong-way crash on I-5

SEATTLE - A family of five from Denver that was injured in a devastating crash on I-5 Monday is still recovering. The driver that hit them was taken into custody after being suspected of being impaired. 

The family is from Denver and had helped with Sunday services at a church within their church network in Edmonds. They were driving to the airport Monday to return home when the woman hit them, sending all five to the hospital.

Rescuers had to cut away at the roof of the family's crumpled vehicle to get members of the Mori family out early Monday morning. 

"All three of us in the back were sleeping," said Inori Mori, crash survivor.  

Forest Yoichi Mori, the father, was at the wheel. Their mother, Tomo, was in the front passenger seat admiring views of the Space Needle as Inori, Sambi and their brother Kishin slept in the backseat.  

"All of a sudden, he sees bright lights in front of him," said Sambi Mori.

Police say an impaired driver hit the family while heading the wrong way down I-5. 

Inori and Sambi awoke to screeching tires and crumpling metal. 

During the second impact, a semi-truck that was behind them tapped the car, but Sambi said that the driver purposely drove into the wall to avoid fully hitting them. She is thankful that the driver was alert and made an effort to avoid hitting the family's vehicle. 

"There was a semi-truck right behind us, but he was alert though thankfully, and he decided to turn left and hit the truck on the wall instead of crashing into us," said Sambi.  

"We have a lot of soreness. It’s kind of painful to walk around, get up and sit down, lie down or turn over in our beds," said Inori. 

Inori is a nursing student at Colorado Christian University. She also suffered from head injuries and a fractured nose, hematoma, several broken ribs, and damage to her tailbone.  

"I have a full-body whiplash, everything, my neck, chest, everything hurts," said Sambi. She also has a fractured spine, several lacerations, and an elevated heart rate.

Inori and Sambi say their dad Forest also suffered whiplash injuries but was released from the hospital.  

"My father is doing fine, he has whiplash, but he is doing well. He’s been able to go back and forth from the house to the hospital," said Inori. 

The sisters say their mom underwent spinal surgery on Tuesday.  

"My mom just started her spinal cord surgery at 2 p.m. The nurses still aren’t sure when it’s going to start and when it’s going to end so my dad is waiting there until the surgery finishes," said Inori.

Tomo also went into immediate surgery for internal damage to her intestines.  

The two sisters say their brother had surgery on his intestines Tuesday.

"His first words were I want to play soccer," said Inori. 

"He's a soccer fan," said Sambi. 

Although his family said he was in good spirits following Tuesday's surgery, Kishin suffered some of the most extensive injuries following the crash. He is the youngest member of the family and a sophomore at Denver Christian High School. A fundraising page that's been established for the family states that he also had surgery on his lung and suffered a broken leg and broken shoulder as well.

Forest, a pastor back home in Denver, had just finished guest-preaching at the Lynnwood Japanese Family Church in Edmonds. The church network has rallied around them. 

Sambi, who is studying physical therapy, is also doing clinicals in Marysville.  Her educational community has also been supportive. An online fundraiser has been set up to help the family with expenses.  

"We really appreciate everyone’s help and support for us.," said Sambi.  

"We are just really thankful for everyone and all the rescuers and police officers and everyone all the people who have been helping us, supporting us, reaching out asking if we are OK. It just means a lot to us," said Inori.  

Police have said that the driver that struck the family is in custody.  The sisters say that the at-fault driver was injured very severely in the crash. They say they aren't holding any ill-will towards her and that they will have compassion for her and hope she's able to make a full recovery as well.