A Des Plaines teen who was the lone member of his family to survive a car crash remained hospitalized Tuesday at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where his dad worked, officials said.
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A spokeswoman for the Park Ridge hospital said Serif Dilji, 57, was hired for the environmental services department in September 2011, and worked mostly in the emergency room.
“Serif Dilji was a wonderful colleague and cherished member of the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Advocate Children’s Hospital-Park Ridge family,” the hospital’s statement read. “Serif was respected by all with whom he worked and was known for individually greeting everyone by name each morning when he came to work. He will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones.”
Dilji, wife Edije Dilji, 48, and their daughter, Amra Dilji, 20, all died from multiple injuries suffered in the crash Sunday evening near Golf and Rand roads in Des Plaines, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and police. The couple’s 16-year-old son was driving the car northwest on Rand, attempting to turn left onto Golf Road, when it collided with another vehicle, police said.
The boy was taken to Lutheran General with life-threatening injuries but had improved by Monday, said Des Plaines police Cmdr. Chris Mierzwa. The lone occupant of the other car was treated for minor injuries.
Police continue to investigate the crash but do not think alcohol was a factor, Mierzwa said. Investigators will review red light camera video footage of the collision, he said, though there was no red light violation.
The hospitalized teen is a student at Maine East High School, from which his sister graduated in 2015, said Maine Township High School District 207 spokesman David Beery, who released a statement.
“We are deeply saddened to hear this tragic news, and we would like to extend our deepest condolences to surviving family members and friends of the family,” the statement read. “We will, upon students’ return from spring break, be making support services available.”
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