PHOTO COURTESY OF JERRY SCHAD VIA KITV
Killed in the crash were, clockwise from top left, Lan Kim Yim; her husband, Yong T. "Michael" Yim; and their son Brandon, 7. Linden Kim, 5, remains in critical condition.
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Family promises to care for survivor of Kauai crash
LIHUE » The life of the Yim family had always been focused on the lives of their two boys, Lindon, 5, and Brandon, who would have turned 8 yesterday.
Now, their aunt, Chong Yim, said the focus of their entire extended family is on Lindon, who is recovering from a punctured lung and other injuries at the Queen's Medical Center.
Lindon Yim's parents, Yong "Michael" and Lan of Irvine, Calif., died Thursday in a car accident that also killed Brandon along Kauai's west side.
Their rental car was making a U-turn when a Gas Co. truck going about 50 mph crashed into it, police said. Lan, who was driving, died at the scene. Michael died at Kauai Veteran's Memorial Hospital. Brandon died en route to Queen's.
After a few days in critical care and a surgery to repair his lung, Lindon still is not completely sure what happened, Chong said yesterday.
TOM FINNEGAN / TFINNEGAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
A bouquet of flowers and shards of glass mark the spot where three people died in a car crash Thursday on Kauai.
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Lindon thinks Michael's identical twin brother is his dad, she added.
But the little boy is making progress.
"He's sleeping a lot," she said, but the prognosis is good. He might be able to leave the hospital within 10 days.
Family members are flying from all over the globe to be with Lindon, she added. Lindon's mother's family was expected to arrive in Honolulu from Korea yesterday afternoon, and Chong said she will fly out next week to be with her youngest nephew.
"The boy will be in very good hands," Chong said. "We are trying to focus on (Lindon) trying to get well."
Lindon likely will live with his aunt and two cousins in Northern California, Chong continued. Michael's sister and brother-in-law, an executive with a Silicon Valley company, already have two daughters, ages 7 and 5.
"He'll be better off there," she said. They "are more than willing to take him."
Meanwhile, the family begins to make plans for memorials for the three who died.
Michael Yim, 43, moved to California from Korea in 1968, Chong said, and attended high school in the San Diego area. He went to college in San Diego, and law school at the University of California-Davis.
He was a successful lawyer known by many in the Korean community in Los Angeles, she said.
Lan, 43, was a registered nurse and a doting mother.
Laurie Lawver, whose son was in school with Lindon, said the couple "were always very classy, friendly parents that were very involved with their boys.
"This has been extremely sad for our entire school family and community and just hope Lindon will be all right," Lawver added. "He is a very smart and happy little boy."
His older brother, Brandon, was "exceptionally bright," Chong said, and that's not just a proud aunt talking. "He was way advanced in his class.
"He loved to read, loved to play piano," she added. "He loved to teach his little brother everything he knows."
The two just started playing Little League this year, Chong said.
According to a report in the Orange County Register, the family had a timeshare property on Kauai and told neighbors they were excited about the trip.
"They were in paradise on Earth" before the crash, Chong said.
"They were happy," she added. "That comforts me."