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GoFundMe started for mother killed in Sunday crash

Brandi (Plaisted) Novosel. Submitted photo.

A GoFundMe for a mother of two boys killed Sunday, July 26, in a head-on crash on Route 8 has raised almost $2,000 in its first four hours.

Brandi (Plaisted) Novosel died of her injuries after being flown from the crash in Butler Township. She was riding with her husband, Frank W. Novosel III, and her youngest son when a vehicle crossed into their lane and struck them.

The driver of that vehicle, Jennifer N. Johns, 27, of Kittanning, died at the scene.

“Brandi was the heart of the family,” wrote her cousin, Taylor Klabunde, who started the fundraiser. “She was a devoted wife, a loving mother and someone who always put her family first.”

Frank Novosel and the couple’s youngest son are still being treated for their injuries. The boy is being treated for multiple injuries while his father remains in an intensive care unit, Klabunde said.

The GoFundMe had raised $1,925 from 21 donations as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.

“In an instant, these children have lost the person who loved and cared for them every day,” Klabunde wrote. “As they navigate this unimaginable grief, they are also facing an uncertain future.”

The funds raised will go toward daily living expenses, clothes and school supplies, counseling and grief support, childcare, extracurricular actives and future educational expenses, Klabunde said.

“No child should have to worry about financial burdens while grieving the loss of their mother,” Klabunde said.

Brandi (Plaisted) Novosel and one of her sons. Submitted photo.
Emergency personnel at the scene of a two-vehicle crash in Butler Township Sunday evening, July 26. William Pitts/Butler Eagle

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