For the past decade, North Atlanta High School students have had a soft-spoken voice to ease their worries when struggling with complex math problems, angles and shapes. Donald Green, the school’s lead geometry teacher, has always prided himself on building relationships with the teenagers who enter his classroom while also putting in extra work to support his colleagues.
Now, his fellow teachers, students and community members are giving back as Green remains hospitalized after being injured in a four-vehicle crash on I-85 in South Carolina that killed his wife, Sharae, and two others, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The Greens were on their way home from picking up one of their daughters from college Sunday when a vehicle heading north in the southbound lanes of the interstate collided with their car, causing two others vehicles to crash.
Sharae Green, 45, died at the scene, while Donald Green was taken to a hospital and underwent three surgeries to repair a fractured foot and broken pelvis, according to Sarah Burns, the Master Teacher Leader for the high school’s math department. One of the couple’s daughters remained hospitalized Monday, while the other was released, Burns said.
Sharae Green worked at the Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC), which helps foster kids in Georgia, she added.
“When he spoke about his wife, you could tell how much he loved and respected her,” Burns told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “I appreciate him as a good, hardworking teacher that loves his family very much.”
The crash happened just after 5:15 a.m. between mile markers 52 and 53 in Greenville County, about 150 miles northeast of metro Atlanta. The county coroner’s office identified the two other people killed as Storm Mikayla Shepard, 27, of South Carolina, and Jimmie McKenley Wallace, 69, of Alabama.
Officials said the three who died were all in separate vehicles. The crash remains under investigation by the coroner’s office and state highway patrol.
The Green family had also been traveling with their two pit bulls, Moon and Asta, who both jumped out of the vehicle and ran away amid the chaos. Moon is microchipped and still missing, while Asta was found Monday, according to Ashley Raymond with Anakin’s Trails Animal Trapping, a South Carolina-based animal rescue service.
“They’re just really concerned about Moon,” Raymond told the AJC. “That’s their baby. It’s the family dog.”
Donald Green underwent his fourth surgery Tuesday. Burns organized a GoFundMe page to help the family with financial expenses, which had raised more than $13,000 as of Wednesday morning.
“The North Atlanta High School community is at a loss for words regarding the tragic loss that Mr. Green, our beloved math teacher, and his family are facing this holiday season,” Principal Curtis Douglass said. “Mr. Green is a great educator who loves his students. Our community will continue to donate to his GoFundMe page and set up additional support for him and his family.”
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