NASCAR community rallies around Denny Hamlin's pit crew member
Caleb Hurd, the gas man on the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin, and his wife, Courtney, were preparing for the birth of their second daughter when complications occurred that led to a difficult situation.
Kate was born prematurely at just 31 weeks into the pregnancy. With complications after the early birth, doctors needed to wait for Kate to grow before they could perform surgery on her.
In December, she was big enough to be transferred to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte for the operation.
An outpour from the NASCAR community came in the form of thoughts and prayers as Kate went into several procedures.
“It was really nice to know we weren’t alone,” Caleb Hurd said. “The support was very overwhelming.”
The most support came from Hurd’s fellow team members at Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Also, I want to say how extraordinary Joe Gibbs Racing is,” Courtney said of her husband’s employer. “Starting from the moment I was hospitalized, Caleb was able to be by my side every moment and it made a difficult time for our family better.”
After a successful surgery on her heart, Kate was able to finally come home with her parents and the Hurd family started to get back to a normal life.
“The first week I wouldn’t sleep,” Caleb said. “I would just go peek on her and make sure she was okay. We’re not on the clear yet but we’re blessed that everything with our family is getting better.”
