ANDOVER — A local social media food reviewer is in the ICU with serious injuries after a four-car pileup on Interstate-95.
Derry native Joey Calcavecchia, 36, known on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms as The Roaming Foodie, was the only person seriously injured in the May 14 accident
He was helicoptered from the scene and taken to Tufts Medical Center in Boston for treatment.
Calcavecchia has been in the intensive care unit and is being treated for multiple injuries, including multiple fractured ribs, two collapsed lungs, fractures in his facial bones, and swelling around his brain, according to a GoFundMe page created his sister, Jenna Calcavecchia. She said he has also been on a breathing respirator since he arrived at Tufts.
“Thank you everyone for the thoughts, prayers, donations and outpouring of support. Joey is truly a special person and deserves all the love,” Jenna Calcavecchia wrote in an update to the page.
“We’ve come to learn that Joey’s road to recovery will be a long one.”
The GoFundMe page has a goal of $100,000. As of late Friday, $70,283 had been donated by more than 1,300 people.
“Thankfully, Joey was still breathing on the scene once found by Massachusetts state troopers and first responders,” Jenna Calcavecchia wrote. “He needed to be removed from his car by firefighters with the jaws of life. It is truly a miracle that Joey is still alive.”
The accident on I-93 northbound near exit 42 was reported at 12:47 a.m., according to state police. They have not released a cause for the accident at this time.
Jenna Calcavecchia said in the GoFundMe post that a deer had run across the highway, which caused the four-vehicle crash. Her brother was the operator of the last car in the pileup.
Calcavecchia grew up in Derry and graduated from Pinkerton Academy and the University of New Hampshire. He moved to Boston to pursue a career in food marketing, but, after discovering his passion for photography, decided to switch it up.
He created the Roaming Foodie account in the fall of 2016. He has amassed a following of 300,000 across his Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube profiles.
In the Roaming Foodie videos, Calcavecchia travels New England, highlighting his favorite eateries and giving recommendations and collaborating with other internet food lovers.
The most recent collaboration was with the Phantom Gourmet, Dan Andelman. The two checked out Derry’s Mickey’s NY Pizza, 9 Crystal Ave., which Calcavecchia said was one of his favorite spots.
Mickey’s NY Pizza, along with many of the other places Calcavecchia reviewed, have donated to help his family cover medical costs, camera equipment, and a new car.
The GoFundMe page for Joey Calcavecchia can be found at https://gofund.me/d0e3c85f.
Teddy Tauscher contributed to the reporting of this article.