Family mourning after father of 7 battling cancer hit, killed by car while crossing street

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV/Gray News) - A Wisconsin family is mourning the loss of a husband and father of seven who died in a car crash this week.

Derrick Allen, 48, was struck by a car on Monday while crossing Northport Drive and Kennedy Road on Madison’s north side. He died in the hospital on Wednesday after being declared brain dead.

His wife, LaToya Moss, said losing her husband has been a life-altering moment. Allen was also in a five-year battle with cancer.

“Knowing that he had cancer, we thought that that was the way my husband was going to go,” Moss said. “Not knowing that we were going to have a tragic incident walking through a crosswalk, right?”

Allen had been living with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which had metastasized to several parts of his body. Still, LaToya says, he kept fighting—physically, mentally and spiritually.

“He journeyed and scowled through books. He liked to do sound meditation and healing and go on walks,” she said.

Allen had previously worked at Monona Terrace before his illness forced him to leave his job. He later became a Reiki practitioner and found peace in meditation and nature.

LaToya says her husband was bringing food to their child and visiting a relative who lived nearby when the crash happened. She was on her way to pick them up when a call from a community member changed everything.

“I went to the hospital and met the ambulance there and met the doctor with some large news, life-changing news, that affects seven children,” she said.

Doctors gave the family 72 hours to hope for a miracle. But scans showed no brain activity and extensive internal trauma.

“There was no fighting chance,” Moss said. “The impact of that car did the damage, and what we now have is that my husband is no longer on this side of the Earth.”

She said police told her the full report could take weeks, or even months, and she doesn’t know who the driver was.

Still, LaToya says she holds no bitterness.

“I send positive energy to that person,” she said. “This was life-changing for him and his family as well.”

She hopes her husband’s story leads to change, safer roads, more awareness, and fewer tragedies.

“Hopefully, Monday was the last day that this happened to someone,” she said. “That tremendously impacts two families.”

Allen is survived by seven children, with the youngest being 4 years old. A memorial service is being planned.

A GoFundMe has also been started on behalf of the family.

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