24 August 2023 , 20:14
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A couple were dealing with the most tragic situation possible - the death of their five-year-old girl - when they found a very special note addressed to her dad among the recovered belongings.
The note was written in a child's handwriting and was addressed to 'dade' (daddy). "I miss you so much. When I see you, I will be so happy! I love you! Love Birdie!!!" it said. Her father posted the photo on Facebook, captioning it: "Birdie is adorable."
Birdie, 5, was visiting her grandparents in Ohio from the family home in Portland when a car going at low speeds smashed into their vehicle. Birdie's brother, unnamed, was also in the car at the time of the crash. The next few weeks were supposed to be a time of celebration - little Birdie's birthday was coming up, along with the start of first grade. Instead, the parents are planning a funeral.
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Scott Howell, father of Birdie Howell, 5, who was based in Oregon and died in a car incident while visiting her grandparents in Ohio (Scott Howell/Facebook)The family created a GoFundMe for her funeral expenses. "Our family lost our beautiful, silly, bad-ass five-year-old girl in a tragic accident. While on her last trip of the summer, she was hit with a car at low speeds by a close family member and died on the way to the hospital," they wrote.
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"She was looking forward to her rainbow cake for her birthday this week and starting first grade. She was a social butterfly, an incredible goofball, and was special to every single person who met her. She hiked in dresses and had a lisp and a generous heart.
Birdie Howell, 5, was struck by a vehicle that was driving at a low speed and was manned by a close family member (GoFundMe)She has two older brothers who will miss her forever and one of which has to live with the trauma of having seen it happen," said her parents on the charity page.
According to The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that 42,795 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022. Forbes Advisor "calculated one fatal car accident occurs every 15 minutes in the United States. Sadly, the number of fatal accidents is on the rise. There was a 7% increase in the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents between 2019 and 2020."
The touching note (Scott Howell/Facebook)Forbes further stated: "Car accidents are common among motorists and passengers under the age of 20. A total of 11% of all car accident fatalities in 2020 involved minors within this age range, with 4,414 people under 20 dying in crashes during the course of that year. Injuries among young motorists were also common, with a total of 437,677 people under 20 getting hurt in collisions in 2020."