Two toddlers aged 30 months and 10 months remain hospitalized after their parents passed away in a car accident on July 11.
The parents, surnamed Nam and Park (Korean women keep their maiden name after marriage), were buried two days after the accident on their third wedding anniversary on July 13.
The family were traveling to the city of Gangneung on July11, when a heavy truck in the opposite direction suddenly collided into their Grandeur sedan in Najeon-ri, Bukpyeong-myeon, Jeongseon County at around 5:00 p.m.
 |
(Facebook Capture) |
Nam, who had been in the driver’s seat, was killed instantly. His wife Park was taken to the hospital but did not survive.
It is presumed that Park, 30, had her firstborn daughter on her lap in the passenger seat while the youngest son sat in the back in a child car seat.
The toddlers suffered brain hemorrhage and arm and leg fractures. They are currently being hospitalized in Wonju-si.
The older child remembers the accident, and is having difficulties sleeping due to the aftereffects of the accident, according to a family member of the deceased couple.
The two-year-old continues to cry for her parents, saying “There was a bam, bam.”
The younger child, barely a year old, is yet to learn how to speak but senses something terrible has happened, said the family member.
Nams’ car insurance company, unidentified, initially refused to give subsidy for the children to be placed under hospice care, citing contract terms.
It belatedly extended help after the case gained attention on social media.
The company reportedly refuses to provide hospital aftercare fee, claiming they would require a medical statement on the children’s suffering disability from the accident.
The Gangwon Jeongseon Police, who is investigating the case, has taken blood samples of the unconscious driver of the heavy truck and requested examination at the National Forensic Service.
The police presume the driver had not been dozing, based on blackbox recordings.
As the man remains unconscious in a hospital bed, the investigation is currently on a standstill.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
