Florida crash | Church pleads for help after tragedy

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In a hospital bed hundreds of miles from her home, 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo learned Tuesday that she was the only member of her immediate family to survive a horrific crash she doesn't remember.

And in the midst of tragedy, her church congregation is suddenly faced with an issue with possibly serious ramifications: Lidiane is not in the country legally, a church official confirmed.

On Sunday, Lidiane was traveling in a van with her parents, older sister, uncle and uncle's girlfriend when they were involved in a multi-vehicle crash on northbound I-75 near Gainesville.

The Carmo family was among 15 members of a small Marietta church who were heading home following a three-day religious conference.

Lidiane, a high school freshman, was the only person in the van to survive the wreck, shocking the close-knit Church of the Restoration on South Marietta Parkway in Marietta, a congregation of mostly Brazilian nationals that had been co-founded by her father, Pastor Jose Carmo.

While grieving the loss of lives, the church was faced with the financial burden of transporting the bodies of loved ones back to Georgia, and then, it is hoped, on to their native country for burial.

Bobby Curtis, another Restoration Church pastor, told the AJC that Lidiane is not a legal immigrant, and some church members fear she could be sent back to Brazil, a country she doesn't remember.

Jose Carmo and his wife Adriana, who both died in the crash, came on legal visas to the U.S. from Brazil 12 years ago, Curtis said. Lidiane was a toddler at the time. Since then, those visas have expired.

The church is prepared to fight to help Lidiane  gain citizenship.

"We've got to get her documentation," Curtis said. "She can't go back to Brazil."

Lidiane also does not have health insurance. She was critically injured, suffering broken bones and internal injuries. She's had one surgery and must have at least one more.

She also faces life without her parents or her only sibling, 17-year-old Leticia. The sisters attended Sprayberry High School near Marietta. Jose Carmo’s brother Edson Carmo and his brother’s girlfriend, Rose, also were killed.

As for Lidiane's status, one expert had reassurance for her friends and surviving relatives.

Charles Kuck, an Atlanta immigration attorney, told the AJC that Lidiane would not be deported because of a federal law granting special status to juveniles. Lidiane can become a ward of the state and be issued a green card, allowing her to stay, Kuck said.

"This child will be fine," Kuck said. "She's clearly an orphan at this moment."

An aunt and uncle who also live in Cobb County are at her bedside and are prepared to take her into their home. They hope the girl will be allowed to return to Georgia, church members said.

"We need all the help we can get," church member Rosana Alves told the AJC.

Church leaders said Florida Gov. Rick Scott pledged to help the crash victims during a visit to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, where crash victims were treated.

In the meantime, church members are turning to the community to help raise money. An account to raise funds, the Carmo Family Funeral Fund, has been established at the Bank of America and donations can be made at any of the bank's branches.

The victims' bodies have been released from Florida, and the congregation must quickly work to make arrangements at a local funeral home. Church leaders are hopeful a memorial service can be held later this week, but no arrangements had been made Tuesday night.

At the church Tuesday night, a representative from the Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta addressed crash survivors and others in the congregation.

"I want to give you my love and our support," Ana Claudia Rodrigues, deputy consul general for the consulate, said through a translator.

But when crash victims asked about help, Rodrigues said she could only convey their concerns to the Brazilian government. Immigration issues are not up to the consulate, Rodrigues said, but the U.S. government.

"She didn't answer any of our questions," Weberson Barbosa, a crash survivor still on crutches, said Tuesday night. "We need someone to really view our pain and take action."

Barbosa was driving the second church van at the time of the crash. He said he's still in shock and traumatized by the experience.

"I saw everything in front of me," Barbosa said through a translator. "I touched the victims."