The family of a window washer who survived a fall from the top of an 11-story building in San Francisco's Financial District last month has blown away their fundraising goal and then some.

To date, the family of Pedro Perez has raised more than $73,000 to help offset their expenses following the accident. The fund was established Dec. 11 and more than 1,160 people have donated money to the family of the 58-year-old via the fundraising website GoFundMe.

Perez was working when he fell from the top of a building at the intersection of California and Montgomery streets on the morning of Nov. 21.

He landed on a moving car and was seriously injured. The driver of the car was not injured.

Perez suffered extensive brain trauma and internal hemorrhaging, as well as a fractured pelvis, broken arm, and a ruptured artery in his right arm.

Perez is now able to converse with others and is regaining his memory. However, he remains unable to work and it is unclear whether he will be able to walk again.

Perez's wife works at a factory in the East Bay and his 19-year-old daughter Monica Perez is taking time off from college to help support the family following the accident. His other two daughters are 11 and 16.

The family asked for donations from the public to help make ends meet, since Perez provided their main source of income.

According to the GoFundMe site, the goal was to raise the difference between one year of Pedro's wages and the workers' compensation payments for the year, about $20,000. The fund is already at $73,140, more than three times that goal.

Last week, Perez's daughter Monica responded to the outpouring of support and the flood of donations.

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Family of window washer who survived SF fall shatters fundraising goal

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MUHLENBERG TWP., Pa. -

The owners of a Berks County restaurant are left cleaning up after a van barreled through the side of the building Friday night.

The Temple Family Restaurant was open at the time. No one was injured.

"My first reaction was thank god no one is hurt," said co-owner George Asimakopoulos."That is a very popular place to sit."

There was extensive damage to one of the seating areas and to the outside of the building.

"When I saw it, I didn't know what happened at first," said one customer at the diner. "I didn't know if it was a car accident. I thought someone got mad or something and threw something at the window."

The owners say a driver lost control of the van, and then plowed through the restaurant.

Despite the damage, the diner is still open for business.

"Tt shouldn't be a problem," said Asimakopoulos. "It should be cleaned up in the next day or two."

The owners have temporarily sealed the hole and are currently looking for a contractor to permanently fix the building.

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Berks County restaurant owners cleaning up after van barrels through wall

A window washer who survived an 11-story fall onto a car in downtown San Francisco has finally been released from the hospital in time for Christmas, family and healthcare officials said Monday.

Marciela Perez, wife of the man who fell, Pedro Perez, told reporters that her husband will require months of rehabilitation after suffering extensive brain injury but that he has improved a lot, according to NBC4.

After nearly a month in San Francisco General Hospital, Perez, 58, was released on Friday in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The accident occurred about 10 a.m. Nov. 21 in the city's Financial District. The back of the car where Perez landed was smashed in, but the driver was not injured, police said. Perez fell more than 120 feet.

"As a wife, it is very meaningful for me to have my husband for Christmas festivities," Marciela Perez told reporters at a press conference Monday. "He is my support."

Pedro Perez suffered brain trauma, several broken bones and a ruptured artery in his right arm, his wife told reporters. Its unclear if hell ever walk again but his memory is returning and he can now identify relatives by name, his wife said. Perez will be recovering for three or four months in a Pleasanton facility, according to NBC4.

The driver of the car Perez landed on, Mohammad Alcozai, told KGO-TV that he was happy to be alive and praying that Perez survived.

He said the impact came shortly after he made a left turn, adding that his car's roof almost completely collapsed in the accident.

Maa-Becca Tucker was walking past the crash when she saw the worker lying on the ground. She said he wasn't moving.

Tucker described the scene as crazy and said a woman standing next to her was praying for the man as firefighters took him away in an ambulance.

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Window washer who fell 11 stories reunited with family before Christmas

Published December 22, 2014

OAKLAND, Calif. A window washer who fell 11 stories from a downtown San Francisco building onto a moving car last month is preparing to leave the hospital for a rehabilitation facility where he hopes to walk again.

Pedro Perez, 58, fractured his pelvis, broke an arm, ruptured an artery in his arm, and sustained severe brain trauma when he landed on the Toyota Camry after falling from the top of a bank building in San Francisco's financial district on Nov. 21. The car's driver was not injured.

Perez spent a week in a medically induced coma and still can't move his right arm and leg. But just a month after the fall, he has amazed doctors who originally said it would be months before he could leave the hospital, his wife, Maricela Perez told reporters on Monday.

"They are saying it's a miracle," she said through a translator.

Maricela Perez spoke in Spanish about her husband's recovery at his union shop in Oakland. She said he is in good spirits, complaining about the hospital food and even joking about returning to work down the line, although the couple has agreed it won't be as a window washer.

She said she thought he was dead for the first hour after she heard about the accident. At first, her husband could not recognize members of their extended family, but his memory is slowly improving, she said.

"As a wife, I am very grateful to have my husband for the holidays," she said.

Union organizer Colin O'Leary said worker's compensation would be expected to pay for the cost of Perez's hospitalization and rehabilitation. But without the man's income, the family needs money to help cover rent, utilities, food and school supplies for their two youngest daughters, ages 11 and 16.

Marciela Perez, who works in a plastic factory in San Leandro, California, where the family also lives, said she is working extra hours and the couple's 19-year-old daughter has dropped out of college to help her family.

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Window washer who fell from downtown San Francisco building set to leave hospital

Maricela Perez, 39, of San Leandro, center, speaks about her husband Pedro Perez while sitting next to translator Colin O'Leary and her daughter Gaby Perez, 11, during a press conference at the SEIU-United Service Workers West office in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Window washer Pedro Perez, 58, survived falling 11 stories from a building onto a moving car in the financial district in San Francisco last month. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) ( JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO )

OAKLAND -- The wife of a San Leandro window washer who survived an 11-story fall from a San Francisco building in November is asking for donations to support her three daughters, who are facing a meager holiday season.

Maricela Perez, 38, and her 11-year-old daughter, Gaby, appeared at an Oakland news conference Monday morning to ask for help in replacing the wages her husband has lost since he landed on a car Nov. 21.

Perez said her 58-year-old husband, Pedro Perez, broke his right arm, fractured his pelvis, ruptured an artery in his arm and suffered severe brain trauma. He still can't move his right arm or his right leg. He's had "surgery after surgery," his wife said through an interpreter and was in an induced coma for an entire week because the pain was so great.

Maricela Perez, 39, of San Leandro, center, smiles while answering a question about her husband while sitting with translator Colin O'Leary and her daughter Gaby Perez, 11, during a press conference at the SEIU-United Service Workers West office in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Window washer Pedro Perez, 58, survived falling 11 stories from a building onto a moving car in the financial district in San Francisco last month. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) ( JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO )

"His eyes were shut for an entire week," Perez said. "At first when he woke up, he could only say a few words and couldn't remember familiar faces, and his memory would fail him. But now he is calling us by our names and has conversations."

When she got the first phone call, Perez was told her husband was dead. It was only in the car on her way to San Francisco that she received a second call telling her he was alive.

Perez said her husband has left a hospital intensive care unit and is preparing to enter a rehabilitation facility in Pleasanton, a stay that could last months.

"But now Pedro is not working, and the family has encountered very difficult times," said Colin O'Leary, a translator at the news conference and organizer for Perez's union, Service Workers International Union. "Maricela works in a plastic factory at night and has had to take on extra hours. Her 19-year-old daughter had to quit college to start working and make ends meet."

O'Leary said Perez has health insurance and that his hospital bills and rehabilitation are going to be covered by workers' compensation insurance. He also is receiving disability payments, but it won't be enough.

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Family of window washer who fell struggling

OAKLAND, Calif.

A window washer who fell 11 stories from a downtown San Francisco building onto a moving car last month is preparing to leave the hospital for a rehabilitation facility where he hopes to walk again.

Pedro Perez, 58, fractured his pelvis, broke an arm, ruptured an artery in his arm, and sustained severe brain trauma when he landed on the Toyota Camry after falling from the top of a bank building in San Francisco's financial district on Nov. 21. The car's driver was not injured.

Perez spent a week in a medically induced coma and still can't move his right arm and leg. But just a month after the fall, he has amazed doctors who originally said it would be months before he could leave the hospital, his wife, Maricela Perez told reporters on Monday.

"They are saying it's a miracle," she said through a translator.

Maricela Perez spoke in Spanish about her husband's recovery at his union shop in Oakland. She said he is in good spirits, complaining about the hospital food and even joking about returning to work down the line, although the couple has agreed it won't be as a window washer.

She said she thought he was dead for the first hour after she heard about the accident. At first, her husband could not recognize members of their extended family, but his memory is slowly improving, she said.

"As a wife, I am very grateful to have my husband for the holidays," she said.

Union organizer Colin O'Leary said worker's compensation would be expected to pay for the cost of Perez's hospitalization and rehabilitation. But without the man's income, the family needs money to help cover rent, utilities, food and school supplies for their two youngest daughters, ages 11 and 16.

Marciela Perez, who works in a plastic factory in San Leandro, California, where the family also lives, said she is working extra hours and the couple's 19-year-old daughter has dropped out of college to help her family.

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Man who fell 11 stories onto car to leave hospital

Maricela Perez, 39, of San Leandro, center, speaks about her husband Pedro Perez while sitting next to translator Colin O'Leary and her daughter Gaby Perez, 11, during a press conference at the SEIU-United Service Workers West office in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Window washer Pedro Perez, 58, survived falling 11 stories from a building onto a moving car in the financial district in San Francisco last month. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) ( JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO )

OAKLAND -- The wife of a San Leandro window washer who survived an 11-story fall from a San Francisco building in November is asking for donations to support her three daughters, who are facing a meager holiday season.

Maricela Perez, 38, and her 11-year-old daughter, Gaby, appeared at an Oakland news conference Monday morning to ask for help in replacing the wages her husband has lost since he landed on a car Nov. 21.

Perez said her 58-year-old husband, Pedro Perez, broke his right arm, fractured his pelvis, ruptured an artery in his arm and suffered severe brain trauma. He still can't move his right arm or his right leg. He's had "surgery after surgery," his wife said through an interpreter and was in an induced coma for an entire week because the pain was so great.

Maricela Perez, 39, of San Leandro, center, smiles while answering a question about her husband while sitting with translator Colin O'Leary and her daughter Gaby Perez, 11, during a press conference at the SEIU-United Service Workers West office in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Window washer Pedro Perez, 58, survived falling 11 stories from a building onto a moving car in the financial district in San Francisco last month. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) ( JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO )

"His eyes were shut for an entire week," Perez said. "At first when he woke up, he could only say a few words and couldn't remember familiar faces, and his memory would fail him. But now he is calling us by our names and has conversations."

When she got the first phone call, Perez was told her husband was dead. It was only in the car on her way to San Francisco that she received a second call telling her he was alive.

Perez said her husband has left a hospital intensive care unit and is preparing to enter a rehabilitation facility in Pleasanton, a stay that could last months.

"But now Pedro is not working, and the family has encountered very difficult times," said Colin O'Leary, a translator at the news conference and organizer for Perez's union, Service Workers International Union. "Maricela works in a plastic factory at night and has had to take on extra hours. Her 19-year-old daughter had to quit college to start working and make ends meet."

O'Leary said Perez has health insurance and that his hospital bills and rehabilitation are going to be covered by workers' compensation insurance. He also is receiving disability payments, but it won't be enough.

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Family of window washer who survived 11-story fall asking for donations

Sometimes cleaning a messy room is a holiday tradition, and sometimes "liking to eat" is reason enough for celebration - at least when you're in third grade at EJ Blott Elementary School.

This is according to the 8- and 9-year-old students in Carla Collins' class who last week took to the front of the classroom to teach their peers and family members about their cultural festivities. Collins said this year was particularly exciting with students from Sierra Leone, Palestine and India sharing information about Eid Al-Fitr, or the feast that ends the Muslim fast during Ramadan, and Holi, or a Hindu festival of colors.

"It was so different with the diversity, when you make it personal, they'll remember it," Collins said.

Tribune Chronicle photos / Margaret Thompson Wearing a traditional African dress, Adama Seray-Wurie tells her classmates at E.J. Blott Elementary School in Liberty about holiday traditions in other cultures. The Sierra Leone native said she interviewed her father about the holiday and explained wearing a hijab.

The first student to present was Moawya Adhami who came to the school a few months ago, able to speak only Arabic. Collins spent time working with Adhami's mother to translate what he was telling her about the holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.

"We don't eat until it is dark," he explained to his class.

His progress in picking up English has been amazing, Collins said.

"He told me he gives his mother gifts (for Eid Al-Fitr), so I asked what kind of gifts and he told me he gives her money. I asked him how do you give your mom money? Then when I called her on the phone she said yes he does, that it is tradition for the men to give women money," she said. "I mean there are things I'm learning."

Wearing a traditional African dress, Adama Seray-Wurie also taught her class about Eid Al-Fitr. The Sierra Leone native said she interviewed her father about the holiday and explained wearing a hijab.

"I think it is important for them to know what the holidays mean," said mother Larissa May, whose daughter Shaferra May spoke about Thanksgiving.

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Liberty students share their diverse cultures with classmates

ESCANABA - A 25-year-old Escanaba man has been charged with embezzling nearly $5,000 in forged checks while cleaning at a local funeral home, according to police and court records.

Benjamin Lee Maher, of 1315 2nd Ave. S., Escanaba, was arrested last month in connection with five checks he allegedly stole and forged from Crawford Funeral Home in Escanaba from Nov. 20 to 28.

Maher was working as a maintenance person for the funeral home when the alleged incidents occurred, according to Escanaba Public Safety.

Maher was bound over this week from Delta County District Court to circuit court on five counts of uttering and publishing and one count of embezzlement $1,000 to $20,000 in connection with the forged checks totaling $4,870.

Each forgery count has a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison. The embezzlement count carries a maximum sentencing of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine or three times the amount embezzled, whichever is greater.

Maher remains lodged in the county jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash bond.

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Jenny Lancour, (906) 786-2021, ext. 143, jlancour@dailypress.net

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