A Livonia family has faced two tragic events in quick succession, with a man in critical condition after an ice fishing accident and his wife killed in a car crash the following day. The 66-year-old man fell through the ice at Lake George in Addison Township on Thursday afternoon last week while ice fishing with his grandson. He remains in critical condition, while his wife, also 66, died in a head-on collision the next day. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred as she was on her way to retrieve her husband’s vehicle, as reported by The Detroit News.
The incident occurred around 1:45 p.m. when the couple’s grandson called 911 after his grandfather fell into the lake. He attempted to rescue him but fell in himself. A neighbor helped prevent the grandfather from drowning until firefighters arrived. “This is an unspeakable tragedy that has befallen this family in a very short time,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard in a statement obtained by CBS News.
The wife was killed the following day in a head-on crash at 1:53 p.m. after a 19-year-old driver’s car crossed the center line on Rochester Road. The other occupants of the Jeep Grand Cherokee were also hospitalized, with the driver in stable condition and his wife in critical condition, as per Detroit Free Press. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Bouchard expressed the difficulty in comprehending the two unrelated accidents happening so closely together. Investigations into both incidents are ongoing.
