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5-Year-Old Critical After Crash En Route To Lakeland Church

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 9, 2008

TAMPA - A 5-year-old girl remained hospitalized today after a crash in Lakeland Sunday morning that injured her two sisters and her mother.

Hope Wheeler is in critical condition at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, according to her grandmother, Judy Wheeler. The girl's parents are visiting her there.

"The Lord's just holding them up, that's all," Judy Wheeler said by phone this morning. "You can feel the prayers."

Richard Wheeler and his wife, Camille, and their three children were driving to First Baptist Church of the Mall in Lakeland about 8:50 a.m. Sunday when they were involved in a collision, Judy Wheeler said.

Public records show Richard Wheeler, 40, is director of the office of leadership development for the Florida Baptist Convention.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Joseph Dziadon, 40, of Lakeland, ran a stop sign at County Road 35A and Old Kathleen Road and struck the family's 2002 Mazda van.

Charges are pending against Dziadon, a highway patrol spokesman said.

Camille Wheeler, 38, and daughters Katherine, 7, and Regan, 3, were treated at hospitals in Lakeland and in Tampa for minor injuries but not admitted, officials said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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