A couple was left devastated after their five-year-old daughter tragically died only minutes after she wrote a heartbreaking note to her dad.

A young girl named Birdie was visiting her grandparents in Ohio when a vehicle slammed into their car. Her brother was also in the car when the accident happened.

The family was already excited about Birdie’s upcoming sixth birthday party and were also about to celebrate the start of first grade but the parents were left planning a funeral instead.

The letter that was addressed to ‘dade’ (daddy) read: “I miss you so much. When I see you, I will be so happy! I love you! Love Birdie!!!”

In a GoFundMe page setup to help the family with funeral expenses, the heartbroken parents Sarah Abbott and Scott Howell wrote: “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.

“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’s parents added: “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.”

Heartbroken people of Portland have embraced the grieving family with open arms. In honor of Birdie, over $17,000 has been raised in one day.

According to the US Department of Transportation, around 42,795 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year.

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.”

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