Kids Safety Network

MMA Fighters Toddler Dies Due To Drunk Driver

It is probably every parent’s worst nightmare to lose their child.

Thankfully many of us will never have to walk in the shoes of MMA fighter Marcus Kowal and his family, who have tragically lost their 15-month-old son Liam Mikael, when he was struck by a drunk driver.

The details of what happened are completely heartbreaking and the family needs help.

It happened while Liam was on a walk with his teenage aunt, the sister of Mishel Eder, near Marcus’ home in Hawthorn, California on September 3rd.

The pair were crossing the street in a crosswalk and were allegedly hit by a 72-year-old woman, who has been identified as Donna Marie Higgins.

The woman attempted to flee from the scene, however, witnesses followed her and blocked her car until authorities arrived. Marcus told ABC7 News that a crying neighbor called out to him from the stairwell of their apartment building to tell him about the accident.

Image Credit: Hawthorne Police Department

I ran out in the street, ran down. I saw the police cars, and I saw his stroller in two pieces,” he explained.“He has a little green frog that he’s had with him since day one. He carries it around wherever he is. He won’t sleep without his green frog and it was lying in the middle of the street.”

 Both Liam and his aunt were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where Liam was declared brain dead. His aunt is expected to be fine.”I was proud to be a dad,” continued Marcus.

“I wanted to raise a good child. It looks like he’s sleeping because he’s breathing, but he’s breathing because of the life support.”

It was decided that Liam be taken off life support on September 4th and the family are donating his organs.

Higgins has been arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and felony hit-and-run and booked at the Hawthorne jail with a $100,000 bail. It is still unknown if she will face additional charges now that Liam has been removed off life support.

Image Credit: GoFundMe

GoFundMe account has been set up for the family, to assist them with medical expenses and funeral costs.

No family should ever have to bury their child especially in a case like this.

What are your thoughts about this tragic story?

Toddler`s Plea To Go Outside May Have Saved Neighbors From Home Explosion

The Fohler family had been hanging out inside their home in unincorporated Gurnee on Friday evening when their 2.5-year-old boy started pleading to get outdoors. With cooler temps in the forecast, Ludek Fohler, the toddler’s father, decided to take a walk to a nearby park to “warm us up” instead of simply playing on the family’s backyard he’d just finished building the weekend before.

A little while later, the family felt the ground shake and saw a plume of smoke and flames go up in the air, the Daily Herald reports.

The home next door, at 36437 Streamwood Drive in unincorporated Gurnee, had exploded.

The family then rushed home while calling 911.

Their daughter, Tara, was in her upstairs bedroom at the time doing her homework. All of the ceilings on the second floor fell into the bedrooms, however Tara, and the family’s dog, was able to escape major injury, according to reports.

The blast could be felt six miles away and left one person dead in the home that exploded.

In total, six other homes were damaged by debris from the explosion. Prior to the explosion, several people in the neighborhood reported the smell of gas, the Daily Herald reports. The State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the explosion.

An autopsy is being conducted and Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper will use DNA or dental records to figure out the identity of the person killed in the explosion since the body was so badly burned, the Lake County-News Sun reports.

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