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Community mourns New Port Richey woman who died while trying to help accident victim

 
Published Dec. 9, 2014

HOLIDAY — Denise Gajus saw the man in the road and thought only of helping.

That's just who she was.

On the other side of U.S. 19, a young man lay in the road after being thrown from his motorcycle. Cars barreled toward him.

Gajus, a 66-year-old mother of five, dashed into the highway. Moments later, she died after being struck by an oncoming car.

Now, family and friends are grieving the loss of a woman who they say lived for her family, her loved ones, and her New Port Richey community.

"You could tell her about any problem in the world and she would just be there to help you, no matter what," said Yvonne Dorsey, 59, who called Gajus her best friend. "She was always there, 100 percent, for everybody. … This is like a nightmare."

Sunday night was chaotic on U.S. 19 near Alt. U.S. 19 in Holiday. First, about 7:45 p.m., a wrong-way driver heading north in the southbound lanes crashed into three cars, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

In a blood-alcohol test, driver Brittany Anello, 24, blew 0.177 — more than twice the level at which a driver in Florida is presumed impaired, according to an FHP report. She caused about $42,000 in damage to the four vehicles, the report says.

After being booked Monday on charges of DUI damage, Anello was released on $2,000 bail. Phone messages left for Anello were not returned.

About an hour after the wrong-way crash, on the opposite side of the road, there was another accident. A 26-year-old man hit the brakes on a Suzuki motorcycle, an FHP report said, and caused the bike to skid. The force threw the rider into the roadway, where cars quickly approached.

An officer and a bystander ran into the road, trying to get drivers to slow so they wouldn't crush the biker.

Back on the southbound side of the road, Denise Gajus stood with her husband, Ward, a tow truck operator. They had already loaded a couple of vehicles from the earlier wreck. When the crash rang out, Denise acted.

She darted into the road, five lanes between her and the biker.

But in the center southbound lane, a St. Petersburg woman driving a Toyota 4Runner hit Gajus, who died there.

"This is the most gruesome thing I've ever seen," said Jeremy Cox, 30, the bystander who ran to help. "I did the same thing she did, and it could've been me."

No charges have been filed in the fatal accident, which the FHP is investigating.

The motorcyclist, Mark Vincent Berry Jr. of Homosassa, was flown to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and put into a coma, from which he was emerging late Monday, said his father, Mark Vincent Berry Sr.

"My heart goes out to her," he said. "I can't imagine what her husband is feeling."

Cox of New Port Richey was leaving a liquor store when he saw the motorcycle accident.

No more than a minute later, Gajus was hit. He saw her cellphone flying through the air.

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"I can't stop praying for that tow truck driver, because he had to watch his wife run out and get struck right in front of him," Cox said. "It goes through my head: What could I have done to prevent her from being hit?"

Now, many people in the community are mourning her. Dozens of people visited her home Monday to pay their respects, Dorsey said.

Gajus, a grandmother of five, was a tireless worker. She once owned Colossal Comics on U.S. 19 and often volunteered. She managed Ward's towing, moving and rental business. And she always made time for friends, Dorsey said. On Saturday, Gajus spent three hours wrapping Christmas presents with Dorsey.

Gajus loved animals, gardening, cooking and playing pinochle, Dorsey remembered.

"She was the glue that held the family together," Dorsey said. "We're all in shock. You just think you're going to wake up and this can't be."

Longtime friend Paul Gerry called Ward and Denise "a super couple."

"There's so much they've done over the years," said Gerry, 76, of New Port Richey. "I just can't say enough about the family. This is a tragedy beyond tragedy."

As soon as Gerry learned of Gajus' death, he and Pastor Guy Sanders of First Baptist Church hurried to the accident scene. They found Ward, beside himself with grief. Denise was his high school sweetheart. They'd been married since 1967.

The men prayed with him by the road, where his wife lay under a sheet, then drove him home. The family was beginning to gather.

Contact Claire McNeill at cmcneill@tampabay.com or (813) 909-4613.