Family reunites with first responders after losing mother and daughter in crash

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A family is remembering two lives cut tragically short in a car crash near the Decatur County line on October 25.

Danielle Cross and her daughter Bella died after their car ran off the road on Highway 27 North.

Danielle’s daughter Ayva survived the crash, and will have to grow up without a mother and sister.

On Friday, the family gathered outside the Bainbridge Police Department to meet the first responders who tried to save all three lives that day.

”It’s never easy, it’s a hard thing to deal with, but with all the people that have helped out it makes things a little easier and knowing that so many people care and tried and did what they did to help out,” Danielle’s father Wayne Cross said.

The Bainbridge Fire Chief said he was the one Ayva held onto the day of the accident.

Cross told WCTV Ayva is recovering at a burn center in Galveston, Texas, and the family feels the time for healing physically and emotionally has begun.

”It gives us something to be happy about, something to work towards on getting her healthy and carrying on the legacy of her mom and her sister,” Cross said.

He added that without the help of the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office and other first responders, Ayva wouldn’t be alive today.

The family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses for Danielle Cross and Bella.

You can find a link to that here.

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