An Alaska toddler has been orphaned after surviving a head-on car crash that killed both her parents on the Parks Highway in Trapper Creek.
Paige Hart, aged two, suffered six broken bones in the collision but is in a stable condition after being transferred for treatment. Her parents, Sasha Hart, 38, and David Hart, 41, died in the crash near milepost 115 at about 9am on October 19.
A preliminary investigation by the Alaska Department of Public Safety found that Sasha Hart was driving a black 2018 Subaru Forester southbound when it crossed the centre line and struck a white 2008 Ford F-250 travelling north.
The family has described Paige’s survival as a “miracle”. She is receiving treatment after being moved from Mat-Su hospital in Anchorage.
Family remembers couple after Alaska car crash
David Hart’s sister, Shery Elterman-Hart, said the couple had celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary shortly before the crash.
She said they had built a life together that brought Sasha’s Jamaican background and David’s Alaskan heritage into one family.
“She just became one of us,” Elterman-Hart said of Sasha. “We were really close with David before they met, but then when she came, she just sort of lumped right in.”
David’s other sister, Katie Ragsdale, said the couple had devoted themselves to raising Paige.
“She was their entire world. I don’t know if it’s Paige’s house or their house,” she said.
Relatives said Paige’s expressions, mannerisms and sweet tooth remind them of her parents. “You still have a piece of them, a living piece of them still on Earth,” Ragsdale said.
Elterman-Hart plans to help raise Paige alongside her husband and their two sons. She is travelling to Anchorage to be with the child as the family deals with the aftermath of the crash.
A fundraising appeal has been launched to help cover Paige’s medical expenses and other needs. The family has raised close to 30,000 dollars towards a 35,000-dollar target.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety investigation remains ongoing.
