Community stepping up for young Shirley widow after husband’s fatal car wreck

Friends and family have rallied around Amanda Egan after the sudden death of her husband, Joseph John Egan, who was fatally injured in a car crash on the Long Island Expressway in Melville.

Egan, 40, of Shirley, is remembered as an Eagle Scout, a self-taught musician, a chef, and a caring son, brother, uncle and godfather. In his final act of kindness, he donated his liver, heart, kidneys, bones, veins, skin and tissue — ultimately saving at least four people, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized by his friend Denielle Dolan.

The fundraising effort — titled “Honor Joseph Egan: Support Amanda in Grief” — has raised more than $35,000 from nearly 300 donations. Funds will go toward funeral expenses, household costs and time for Amanda to grieve without financial strain.

“He was Amanda’s everything and she was his,” Dolan of Mastic Beach wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Today, Amanda is facing unimaginable grief and a mountain of emotional and financial burdens.”

Police said Egan was driving a 2022 Hyundai Tucson eastbound on the LIE near Exit 50 when his vehicle struck another car and then a parked tractor-trailer on the shoulder. The crash happened in the early morning hours of July 20.

Egan was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.