Monmouth County Town Rallying Around Family of Rutgers Student Still Hospitalized

Photo courtesy of the Prayers for Timmy McDonnell Facebook Page

The town of Holmdel is continuing to show support for Timothy McDonnell, the 20-year-old Rutgers student and Holmdel resident, who was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle on October 4 in New Brunswick.

A sign outside of Holmdel High School read “Praying for Timmy” last week, in a gesture of continued support for the McDonnell family, who are well-known and loved around the town of Holmdel. A Facebook page called Prayers for Timmy McDonnell has also been set up, with people leaving comments of hope and prayers for his recovery.

According to an update on the Facebook page from the McDonnell family, Timothy remains in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, in a medically-induced coma.

The McDonnell family are known locally for a former charity founded by Timmy’s father, Tim McDonnell, called My Three Sons, which was started after a close family friend lost his life to cancer, leaving behind three young children. Tim McDonnell was also diagnosed with cancer in 2012, but has successfully undergone treatment and is currently in remission.

The town and high school have continued to rally around the McDonnell family as they enter the second week of Timothy being in a coma. Timothy is former football player at the high school, and his younger brother, Matthew, is currently a Senior football player, who wore his brother’s jersey during Friday night’s match against Spotwood. The team has also shown that the former player is in the hearts and minds of all, by wearing his initials, “TM” on their helmets during their winning match- their first win of the season and one which the team says they took in honor of Timothy, according to Shoresportsnetwork.com.

McDonnell was crossing Easton Avenue in New Brunswick by foot at approximately 2:16 a.m. on Saturday, October 4, when he was struck and seriously injured by a 2007 Audi, driven by a 30-year-old Somerset resident.

No charges have been filed at this time against the driver of the vehicle, although the accident remains under investigation, according to police.