Benefits set up to help Lamont family
MONROE - A fund to help the family of Brian Lamont, who was seriously injured in a semi crash early Friday morning, has been established at the First National Bank.
Donations can be dropped off or mailed to: First National Bank, Att: Brian Lamont Benefit, 1625 10th St., Monroe, WI 53566. More information is available by contacting Renee Setterstrom at 608-325-3436 or by contacting the bank at 608-325-5100.
Friends are also collecting monetary donations, as well as gift cards for gas and food and items for general family needs. To make a donation, contact Theresa Klemm at 608-325-1130.
Lamont's wife Hailey recently became a consultant for Norwex, a company that distributes home cleaning and personal care products. In order to help Hailey Lamont remain as an active consultant, friends are also organizing an online Norwex benefit. A catalog is posted online at tinyurl.com/norwexbenefit; contact Tami Ostendorf at 815-291-9150 to place an order or for information. There is also an online schedule at mealtrain.com for people who wish to donate meals for the family.
Scroll to the end of the page for links to the mealtrain schedule and Norwex benefit.
Brian Lamont, 33, will need to undergo many surgeries to repair critical spinal fractures and a severe leg injury, according to his wife, Hailey.
"Every day seems to be getting a little better," she said from his hospital room Monday afternoon. "He's going to have to have a lot of repairs."
It took emergency crews an hour and 15 minutes to extricate Lamont from the cab of the semi, according to the Rock County Sheriff's Department. He was initially taken to Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center in Janesville and has since been transferred to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.
Lamont was a lineman for the Badgers from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he played football for Monroe High School under former coach Pat Martin.
At 6-foot-8 and 425 pounds, Lamont's size has been a challenge at the hospital as doctors continue to evaluate his injuries, his wife said. Results of a brain scan are still pending. Meanwhile, while he's in and out of surgery, he can't eat.
"He just keeps saying he's hungry. He's a big guy," she said.
The couple are parents to five children, and friends are organizing benefits to help the family cope with what is expected to be a lengthy recovery. (See sidebar.)
The initial accident investigation shows Lamont lost control on a slight curve on Wisconsin 81 west of Beloit at about 3:45 a.m. Friday and crossed through the opposite lane of traffic.
The semi traveled along the shoulder of the road until it hit the culvert at South Olson Road, became airborne and landed on the other side of the road. It overturned onto the passenger side and slid about 100 yards, knocking down several small trees and a power pole before coming to a rest facing westward.
The 2010 Freightliner was carrying 42,000 pounds of liquid carbon dioxide, but deputies found no evidence of a leak.