Pat Greenwood choked up as he took the stage at a fundraiser held for the families of the victims of a tragic multi-vehicle crash on I-75 in Detroit on Jan. 31.
“We miss our little ones,” he told the crowd of nearly 500 who had gathered Saturday to support the Greenwood, Blake, Barrett and Hicks families, who were all touched by the accident that took the lives of two of their children.
Greenwood’s nine-year-old granddaughter, Gabrielle, and her seven-year-old stepbrother, Aidan Hicks, were killed in the crash.
“It’s just been a trying few weeks for us and our family to get through,” Greenwood continued. “Our hearts go out to all of you. We really, really appreciate all of the help and love you’ve sent us.”
Greenwood told the attendees that his son, Glen, and other granddaughter, Hannah, who both survived the crash, are recovering well. He said Glen’s wife and Hicks’s mother, Kim Barrett – who also survived the crash – is doing better at a Detroit hospital but is facing a long road of recovery ahead.
Craig McDowell attended with friends and family and had gone to General Amherst high school with Glen. He said Glen has always been a family man who would often openly express his love for his two daughters with others.
“Every Tuesday, without fail, he would post on his Facebook, ‘I get my girls today,’ and I think that was the highlight of his life,” said McDowell, adding that Glen always treated his stepson, Aidan, as one of his own children.
“He did everything he could to do the right thing for those kids,” McDowell said during the fundraiser, with two of his own children, Devlin, 5, and Teagan, 3, by his side enjoying a plate of pasta.
“I’m here to support my friend and I’m here to support a parent,” McDowell said. “Any parent who loses a child like that – it’s just too painful… Everybody we’ve talked to is obviously heartbroken. I mean, I couldn’t even imagine.”
More to come.
