LOVELAND, Ohio — Patten's Martial Arts has been a staple in Loveland for nearly 28 years.
When tragedy struck earlier this month with the death of owner Jason Patten's daughter, Taylor, he never expected how quickly the entire community would rally around him.
"Taylor was my firstborn," Patten said.
She was an athlete, a black belt in karate at her dad's studio, and also loved to hunt and fish.
"Joke is Taylor was my first son," Patten said.
A car crash in Florida took her life and seriously injured his granddaughter, Bonnie Williams.
"I have never felt so much...," Patten paused while holding Bonnie inside his studio Thursday. "I have never felt so much anguish in my life."
Even though he grieved the loss of his daughter, Patten said he needed to care for Bonnie who, only 1 year old, was hospitalized with a fractured skull and road rash on her legs and arms.
"To the parents who have survived this, hats off to them because in that moment you don't think you're going to," he said.
While Bonnie was hospitalized, Jason's nephew-in-law Shane Teegarden decided to post a GoFundMe page to assist with medical and funeral expenses.
"When I initially started it, I didn't know what amount to put in there," Shane said, eventually deciding to set the goal to $10,000.
That's when hundreds of people Jason had known through the years chipped in to help someone from their own community.
"Within 24 hours, we were above the 10,000 limit," Shane said.
In addition to nearly $39,501 in donations as of Thursday night, friends and neighbors in Brown County started a food train to feed the family every day, and coaches volunteered to fill the month's karate class schedule so Patten and his wife, Angie, could take care of Bonnie.
"With the family itself, and then the karate family, and things like that, she's got the world behind her," Patten's niece Nichole Teegarden said.
Bonnie has since been healing well, and her legs and head show little evidence anything had ever gone wrong.
Patten said he's eternally grateful that the place he calls home looked out for one of their own.
"I'm, kind of a weakness, being prideful and not wanting to ask for help, and that's why what people did for us ... it means so much more," he said.
The family set up an account at Fifth Third Bank to help Bonnie as she grows without her mother.
It was established under the Bonnie G. Williams Memorial Fund.
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