DRAPER, Utah — The mother and step-father of a 9-year-old girl are speaking out after their daughter was critically injured in a car crash and the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Lily, who is 9-years-old, was riding the car with her biological father, who was driving when the crash happened, Shaun Lindberg, Lily's step-father explained to FOX 13 News.
Police say that just before 8 a.m. Wednesday, they found a vehicle had crashed into a tree near Crosswind Way and South Fort Street in Draper. Lily was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but is expected to recover. The driver, who Shaun says was her biological father, was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Shaun told FOX 13 News that at the time of the crash, Lily was holding her small dog. The dog took most of the force from the crash and kept Lily alive. Unfortunately, the dog did not survive.
Read - Driver arrested for DUI following crash in Draper that critically injured 9-year-old
"They're monitoring a brain bleed and her wrist is broken," said Shaun. "I'm sure when she wakes up, she'll be in a lot of pain, but she's expected to go through."
"They're monitoring now and keeping her on intubation," said Lily's mother, Karlene Lindberg. "She wasn't she wasn't able to breathe on her own when they found her."
At the time of the crash, Shaun and Karlene were on their honeymoon and are now rushing home to be back with Lily.
"They said she would be okay and let you know we should continue and on our honeymoon," Shaun explained. "After we boarded the plane we got on the internet and started getting a bunch of calls and texts that it was a lot worse than we really believed that she did have more trauma that the car was unrecognizable basically."
The couple says they had been checking in on Lily and had no idea anything out of the ordinary was going on.
"We were just floored we didn't know anything was going on," Shaun said. "We didn't know anything leading up to it."
Lily's mom says she's anxious to get home and tearfully expressed how upset she was about the entire situation.
"I just want my daughter be okay," Karlene said through tears. "We have gotten the first flight that we can back home to be with her and the fact that I'm not there right now is killing me."
A Gofundme has been set up to help with medical expenses for Lily. Click here to donate.
