Three sisters and a seven-year-old boy who were critically injured in a head-on collision on the M9 motorway are facing a long recovery period, according to friends and family. The incident claimed the lives of five teenagers.
Niamh and Alma Kinsella and their younger sister Ella remain hospitalized in three Dublin facilities: Tallaght University Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, and Children's Health Ireland. Alma's son, Yemi, also sustained injuries.
Friends have shared that one of the sisters has spinal injuries, and all three have suffered broken bones. Young Yemi broke his leg. While the family has been informed that none of the survivors are in a hospital specializing in brain injuries, indicating no known brain damage, their condition is still described as critical.
"They have a long, long recovery ahead of them," a friend told the Irish Mail on Sunday. "One of them has spinal injuries and there are a lot of broken bones and young Yemi broke a leg. But people are relieved that none of them are in a brain specialist hospital so that means none of them are brain-damaged."
Surgeries were performed during the week. Yemi, a Manchester United supporter, reportedly requested that his cast be painted red.
The first civilian to arrive at the scene of the collision, Grace Kelly, was among approximately 1,000 people who attended a vigil at St. Clare's Church in Graiguecullen to pray for the survivors' recovery. Kelly was en route to Dublin Airport when she came upon the accident.
"Grace arrived before the ambulance or the paramedics and the guards told her that an accident had happened. She could hear the little boy screaming in the back seat," a friend recounted. "He has a broken leg so he must have been screaming in pain. The two older girls were unconscious and the third woman was out of the car."
Family members, including the sisters' father Pat and their uncle John and aunt Maura, were also present at the vigil.