Former YouTube star Tré Melvin has been hospitalized and is recovering from a serious brain injury after getting in a car crash that took the life of his best friend Katherya Pacheco-Mendoza.
According to a statement published on Melvin’s Twitter account, both he and Pacheco-Mendoza received brain injuries from the collision, that happened on Monday.
“Early Monday morning, Tré was involved in a severe auto collision with his friend Katherya. Both are currently hospitalized and have suffered brain injuries. While Tré is stable, Kathy is unresponsive. Their families ask that you please send prayers, blessings, and positive vibrations their way. They will come out of this stronger and more powerful. So it is,” the statement read.
https://twitter.com/TreMelvin/status/1275440241323565056?s=20
Unfortunately, Pacheco-Mendoza was then confirmed dead by Melvin later on Twitter.
“I survived a fatal crash. my best friend didn’t. i don’t think i have ever been this numb. ever,” he wrote. He then provided a link for people to donate to a GoFundMe covering Katherya Pacheco-Mendoza’s funeral costs.
https://twitter.com/TreMelvin/status/1275581163940315137?s=20
Afterward, Melvin shared more information about his injury.
“i’m (physically) okay. i was knocked unconscious on impact and my brain bled fairly heavily but the bleeding stabilized this morning. my neck + my back want me dead, but that’s what meds are for,” he tweeted. “I’m alive and I’m grateful.”
https://twitter.com/TreMelvin/status/1275584969474269186?s=20
After that, Tré Melvin posted on Twitter that the crash was actually a hit and run, “To whoever hit us, and ran: kathy is now an ancestor. she will lead us to you.”
https://twitter.com/TreMelvin/status/1275585383892426752?s=20
He then shared his thanks to fans and Twitter users who expressed their concern and condolences for Melvin and the late Pacheco-Mendoza.
“i want each of you to know that i feel your love so, so deeply. i do. i can’t respond right now but i feel it and i thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Despite his joy to be alive and the love he received, Melvin could not forget the horror that has befallen him and his dear friend. “This is a nightmare,” he poignantly and simply tweeted.
https://twitter.com/TreMelvin/status/1275858388589649922?s=20
This tragic incident comes less than a month after Tré Melvin announced his departure from YouTube. Melvin, who had over 3 million subscribers, announced that he would be creating his own subscription service called tremelvin.tv to express his views and opinions on the world. While announcing this departure, Melvin alluded to the current protests against police brutality and YouTube’s ongoing antagonistic treatment of LGBTQ content creators.
“I will no longer allow the platform to censor my pain. i will no longer allow the platform to demonetize my pain. i will no longer sit at a table both my blackness and my queerness have never truly been welcome. i will build my own,” he wrote in a caption for Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1duTPH4Fe/?utm_source=ig_embed
Through his transition off YouTube and now this fatal hit and run, our thoughts go out to Tré Melvin. We also express our condolences to the family of Katherya Pacheco-Mendoza.
