By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor 

HOOVER – Support is pouring in for two members of the Oak Mountain High School staff after a wreck on Monday night, Oct. 9 ended with one passing away and the other with serious injuries.

The community and staff have come together to show their support after passenger Parul Jani passed away in a head-on collision with a car driving the wrong direction, while her husband Nitin Jani was in critical condition on Tuesday morning facing serious injuries.

“It has been a difficult morning,” OMHS principal Andrew Gunn. “They have been a constant display of kindness and support for our students. They are just good, good, kind, hard-working people. The epitome of the American dream.”

Parul had been a staff member at the school since 2005 and also worked with the after school program at Oak Mountain Intermediate school. Gunn said she was beloved by her co-workers and she made a difference in the school with the students and staff.

Nitin is a custodian at the high school and has been part of the staff since 2014.

“He is very well known by the students,” Gunn said. “They love him, so it is a tough.”

The two also have three kids who went on to graduate from Oak Mountain High School, making them pillars of the community.

“At this time, we are just praying for and thinking about their children,” Gunn said. “They are both very much loved within our community as parents and employees in the school.”

Gunn said the school will hold a moment of silence for them at school.

The tragic night started when Hoover police arrived on the scene of two separate life-threatening crashes Monday evening, the first involving a head-on collision with the driver of a Ford Expedition driving northbound in a southbound lane and hitting a Toyota Camry on the Valleydale Road overpass at I-65.

The driver of the Ford Expedition fled on foot, running onto the interstate where he attempted to cross the southbound lanes of traffic.

While attempting to get across the interstate, a Mitsubishi Outlander hit the pedestrian, who was transported to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The male has since died from the injuries he suffered while attempting to flee the scene.

The Janis were transported to UAB hospital immediately, but Parul was pronounced deceased on arrival, while Nitin was still in critical condition facing surgery on Tuesday morning.

With the tragic news in the Oak Mountain community, the schools and residents are coming together in support of the Jani family.