Lafayette, Louisiana Teacher Reeling after Fiance’ Dies in Crash

(99.9 KTDY) - A devastating blow was given to a beloved Lafayette, Louisiana, teacher when she was told that her fiancé had died in a car crash, leaving her with her three children to face the world alone.

The young mother, Lika Tengang, teaches science at Lafayette High School.

She Got That Knock On The Door That Rocked Her Family's World

If a fatal traffic crash happens on an interstate highway in Louisiana, a trooper will be the one who knocks on your door to give you the devastating news that you have lost a loved one to a fatality.

Her 40-year-old fiancé had died in a crash when his 18-wheeler collided with another 18-wheeler.

The fatal crash happened at the end of July this year. It's a reality that is repeated almost every day in our area and across our state.

Needless to say, life has changed forever. Now this woman is going to be raising their 11-month-old baby girl, and her 5-year-old child alone. While she has family with her at this time, it's daunting to think of how tremendously impossible life must be.

You Must Put One Foot In Front Of The Other For Your Children

She faces the daily challenge of returning to Lafayette High School to teach while trying to make life as normal as possible.

It's the reality for so many of us in Louisiana who have to begin to try to pick up the pieces when someone we love is ripped from our lives forever. She told me she doesn't know how she is doing it. However, she's a mom, and she's putting one foot in front of the other for her children. That's what people who are grieving must do.

As anyone who has dealt with the details of the death of a loved one knows, there are so many things that you are doing at once. The realities of what must be done for your lost loved one and those that remain come into focus, but you also feel like you're walking in quicksand.

Amid her grief and the start of school, she is also making a necessary move. It's so much to handle. I admire her strength and determination.

Life After Loss: A Teacher’s New Reality

As many of you know, when you are left without your significant other, so many things change, and some of them immediately, forcing you to adapt or sink. Believe me, I know.

Every story that we report touches my heart, but something about this 29-year-old woman's story has touched me deeper. I know she will now be facing a life she will have to recreate brand new while trying to help her children through this nightmare, and knowing her daughter will never know his father.

Yes, she has family and friends for support, but the trials of everyday life will continue to weigh on her like a massive ton of bricks. If you're a widow, you know. If you're a widower, you know. And, the stark reality has already hit, your life may have stopped when you lost your spouse (in her case, a fiancé), but the rest of the world continues to go on. It's reality, and while your head understands it, your heart is still crushed by it.

I've reached out to her GoFundMe page, created by Dr. Diane Soucy, to support Tengang.

You Have To Keep Moving Forward

I don't physically know this woman. But when I found out about what happened, I understood her so profoundly that I knew I had to write this story. While I didn't lose my spouse in a fatal crash, the loss of everything I knew and understood was gone when my husband died, just like Lika Tengang.

I reached out to her to ask for her permission to talk with her, and she agreed. I grieve for her deeply, as I do for all who have lost their significant other. I also grieve for those who have lost someone they loved, no matter who they are, a spouse, a child, a parent, or a best friend.

Life as she knows it is over. She is being forced to begin again, as is the case when we lose someone, because the stark reality is that life as we knew it has been altered, and it will never again be what it once was.

What Can We Do To Help

Please.......always try to remember those who are grieving. It can be such a difficult thing to do, as we may not know what to say, what to do, or how to act, but sometimes just listening to another person can be the lifeline they need.

While you may not know teacher Lika Tengang, or even have a child who attends school at Lafayette High School, I know you understand the hell she must be going through.

You can't hold her, hug her, but you can pray for her.

There is also something else you can do, if you wish. Dr. Soucy and her colleagues have set up a GoFundMe account; if you can, please consider giving something.

I never would have made it without the love of my family, my husband's family, my friends, my coworkers, and my neighbors. They carried me for a very long time. Even people I never knew reached out to me.

The Financial Burdens Of Death Can Crush You On Many Levels

And, I'm talking about the financial side of it as well. So many things pop up out of nowhere when you are trying to take care of someone's life when they are gone; bills from every direction, fees you never could have dreamed existed, and, in Lika Tengang's case, the care of these three little children who are left without their father.

The grief, depression, and anxiety will take their toll on her and those children in a myriad of crushing ways that we can only imagine, or many of us may already know.

I gave, and if you can, would you consider giving too?

This young teacher has children. She didn't ask for help, but we know she could use it.

To Lika and all who are grieving this loss and their own personal losses in their lives, know how many in Acadiana love you.