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The father of a girl seriously injured in a quad accident in Northern Ireland was holding a bedside vigil last night when a family friend revealed that the accident had left them “broken.”
Ryan Smyth’s wife, Clare, 35, and daughter Bethany, 3, died in the collision with a tractor that also left Hannah, 5, seriously injured.
She was rushed to the hospital after the accident Tuesday on Whitepark Road near Ballycastle, Co Antrim, and underwent a seven-hour brain operation.
The Rev. Alan Buick of the Dunluce Presbyterian Church said it had been “a terrible tragedy that has devastated a lovely family.”
He said: “It is a calamity that has left them broken.”
Ms. Smyth had been an officer with the Dunluce Presbyterian Girls Brigade, while Hannah was also a member of the same organization.
PRAY FOR THE FAMILY
Members of the Girls’ Brigade have been asking people to pray for the family and for the man, in his 20s, who had been driving the tractor.
They said the man needs support “as he accepts this accident.”
The girls had been planting flowers with their mother just before the accident.
The quad bike had a small trailer at the rear and was used to transport dirt near the gates of the family farm.
Smyth was the first on the scene after the accident.
He held onto loved ones before police and an ambulance arrived on the scene.
‘RARE ACCIDENT’
Hannah was understood to be out of immediate danger last night, but her condition remained critical.
Ryan and Clare had been married for 15 years.
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The Rev. John Stanbridge, in a statement on behalf of Mr. Smyth, said it had been “a strange accident.”
He said, “I have spoken to Ryan, who is by his daughter Hannah’s bedside at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast, and would like to express his appreciation for the prayers of everyone, especially those in Ballycastle, and asks that people keep praying for little Hannah. “
The PSNI said a full investigation was underway and has asked for witnesses to appear.
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