JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas — Rushil Barri was a dreamer.
“He used to think always about tomorrow not about today,” said Ayyappala Bandaru, Barri’s roommate.
He was always looking ahead and putting family first.
“It’s so hard to take," said Rakesh Barri, Rushil Barri’s brother. "He’s my half. He’s my half."
Returning from a family visit to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, 28-year-old Barri was driving along US 67 in Johnson County. Texas Department of Public Safety said another vehicle entered Barri’s lane in a dangerous “no passing” area, hitting his vehicle head-on.
“One of my friend’s is his emergency contact in his iPhone. She got a notification saying that Rushil’s iPhone got crashed,” said Bandaru.
Rushil’s cousin, Lokesh, was visiting from Georgia with his 9-year-old son, Nishidha Potabathula, 10-year-old daughter, Krithik Potabathula, his wife, Naveena Potabathula, his mother-in-law, Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, and father-in-law, Nageswararao Ponnada, who were visiting from India. They were all in the car with Barri. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with medical and funeral expenses.
“An eyewitness over there took the phone of Lokesh. She told us that the accident was very bad. A few were dead, and the owner of this phone is still breathing,” said Bandaru.
The 17-year-old driver, Luke Resecker, and 17-year-old passenger, Preston Glass, in the other vehicle are in critical condition, but six of the seven people in Barri’s car died, including Barri.
“Just in one family, they lost five members. It’s like…I don’t even know what to say on that,” said Bandaru.
“I can’t digest it. He’s no more,” said Rakesh. “Still, my mother can’t stand it…He is still alive. I’m praying to the God, he will be back with you. You will be back with him to India. No, he is no more. She just can’t digest it.”
He and Bandaru are working with Telugu Association of North America (TANA), the oldest and largest Indo-American organization.
“Our main target is to reunite the lost loved ones with their families back at home,” said Ashok Kolla, Telugu Association of North America.
They are helping to send Barri and his family’s remains back to India.
“One thing was Rushil is no more. The other thing is how do we send him back to his parents. That’s an important thing for us because his parents need to have their final rituals,” said Bandaru.
TANA has been in contact with the Embassy of India to plan how to ship the bodies back to India. Barri’s friends are also going to start a GoFundMe to gain more support.
In the meantime, they are all hoping the seventh person in that vehicle, Lokesh, pulls through. They plan to be with him every step of the way.