A devastated father has recalled the “horror movie” crash which took the life of his baby daughter.
Alex Kelemen, 27, from Manchester, has opened up about losing his six-month old, Sophia, after she died from severe brain injuries. The little girl, who was in a pushchair at the time, had been on vacation with Alex and her mother, Betty, 26. They were getting ready to return home from Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, when tragedy struck inside a multi-storey car park on January 2.
Flaviu Naghi, 33, from Wigan, is set to appear in court next month, charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance. Describing the seconds leading up to the crash, Mr Kelemen said: “Just before we got to the car, the horror movie started. It’s hard to know and to think about what happened.”
Tenby crash: Six-month-old baby killed in horror multi-storey car park incident
Sophia Kelemen passed away from head injuries
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Image:
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Sophia was taken to hospital and into surgery, but she sadly succumbed to her injuries the next day. Mr Kelemen added: “It’s been horrific to see our little daughter being in that bed and go through all those procedures.” He added: “Everybody loved her, all of our friends. She’s always going to live in my heart. I know she’s going to be watching me every day.”
Mr Kelemen revealed that one of the toughest parts of the process is trying to explain what happened to Sophia’s five-year-old brother, Lucus. The big brother has been asking about her every day since the crash, reports BBC. Mr Kelemen continued: “The biggest pain I’ve had was explaining to him that God loved his sister more than we did and God gave Sophia a brand new set of wings so that she could fly over him and protect him.”
Sophia’s auntie, Adriana Kelemen, previously shared insight into the tragic accident. She told the Manchester Evening News: “They were on a getaway in Wales with family friends. It was their last day and they had been out and then went to the supermarket. It happened in the car park.
Sophia pictured with her family
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Image:
Dyfed-Powys Police / SWNS)
“The pram that she [Sophia] was in was left in the worst condition. She was airlifted to hospital due to the severity of her injuries and needed treatment as soon as possible. They were told she had suffered a bleed on her brain and she was shortly after diagnosed with brain damage. Overnight she had to have surgery. The following day we tried to drive down to Cardiff, but by the time myself and my sister arrived she had already died.”
The baby’s cause of death was listed as a head injury following a road traffic collision, according to an inquest. Coroner’s officer Carrie Sheridan earlier said: “Police received a report from ambulance that a collision has occurred between a single motor vehicle and a child’s pram. This has took place on the ground floor of the main multi-storey car park in Tenby.”
The hearing was adjourned until additional police investigations take place.