Friends, family trying to honor I-391 crash victim by repairing his favorite car

HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - The family and friends of a man who died after a car crash in December is now honoring him by fixing up his favorite car.

Son, friend, brother, and mechanic are some of the words used to describe the late 24-year-old Sean Kaifer from Holyoke.

“He lived and breathed cars, like finding problems. He loved to problem solve anything, so he would love to just take things apart and fix things and anything to do with his hands,” said Eileen Kaifer, Sean’s mother.

On December 10, Sean was in a car crash on Interstate 391 that left him with a severe head injury. He died two weeks later on Christmas Eve morning.

“Sean was on organ donor and he loved life, so we thought it would be best to let Sean go…We are thankful and grateful for him, you know, just having the hardest thing as mom is that you don’t want to lose your child,” Eileen Kaifer explained.

When Sean passed, he left behind family, friends, and his cherished 1993 Mercedes 500 SEL, which he and his friends were in the process of restoring. Now, his friends are picking up where he left off.

“We have gotten a lot of the parts we need sourced to be able to put what we need, mechanical-wise, back together, but what it really comes down to is the body work and I think that’s gonna take the longest amount of time out of everything, so just taking it day-by-day,” said Sean’s friend, Brandon Vreeland.

“As a car community and basically brothers and friends that we do, we help each other with our cars,” added Sean’s friend, Michael Lebert.

By fixing up the Mecedes, Sean’s friends hope to keep his legacy alive.

“Having a piece of Sean around still helps all of us, not just the family, all of us that knew them very well to know that Sean is still with us…might not be physically, but he’s with us in spirit, which I think is absolutely incredible,” Vreeland explained.

“Sean helped people and because of him being kind, his kindness is coming back. It’s a true gift,” Eileen Kaifer added.

If you are interested in supporting the restoration project, you can CLICK HERE for more information.

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