It was one year ago Friday, when two young children lost their lives in a crash on Interstate-75 in Michigan.
The parents of Gabrielle Greenwood, 9, and her step-brother, Aidan Hicks, 7, sat down with CTV’s Gina Chung for an exclusive interview on the one year anniversary of that tragic collision. In the interview, the two remember their children for always being able to light up their world.
"Always smiling, laughing, always there with a hug and a kiss," says Kim Barrett-Greenwood. “We do laugh at times, but we do cry a lot still.”
The family of five was en route to Ohio when heavy snow squalls and white out conditions blanketed the interstate. Nearly 40 cars and transport trucks piled on top of each other in six separate collisions.
Barrett-Greenwood and her daughter Hannah Greenwood were sent to a Detroit hospital. The children's father, Glen Greenwood suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"They removed my skull to release the pressure on my brain. It was March 19 when I got my skull put back," she says.
It’s been a long road to recovery for Barrett-Greenwood. The collision has placed her in an indefinite loop of rehabilitation.
"Since I've been home, it's been 5 days a week, rehabilitation, speech therapy, occupational therapy, you name it, I'm going through it," she says.
But as hard as recovery is, it doesn’t match the pain left behind by the death of her children.
"I'm still angry about the accident, and what happened,” Barrett-Greenwood says. “Very hurt. I miss my kids every day; the house is too quiet without them."
Hannah, their only surviving child, is what keeps the two going.
"If you want to call someone a rock, she's our rock," says Glen Greenwood.
"We'll never forget Aidan and Gabi no matter what."
Gina Chung will have this exclusive interview tonight at six on CTV Windsor.
