A 5-year-old Canadian girl fought hard for her life when she was diagnosed with cancer as a toddler, but now her family is in mourning after they lost her for an entirely different reason.
According to the Toronto Star, Camila Torcato was just 2 years old when she started undergoing difficult treatments and surgeries to beat her cancer.
Her parents were thrilled to hear she won her battle in February, and she was cleared to start school with all the other kids in September.
But on Monday, a horrible accident took her life when her dad picked her up from school.
According to CTV News Toronto, Amilcar Torcato arrived at St. Raphael Catholic School around 3:30 to pick up the little girl when a vehicle with no driver rolled towards them.
The father said they were about to get into their car when the Hyundai slammed into them, pinning them against their own vehicle, the Star reports.
After they were freed, Camila was rushed to the hospital where they determined she had internal bleeding. The father managed to escape with his life, but the 5-year-old lost hers that same day.
Now, Torcato wants other parents to know the dangers of leaving their cars running while picking up children at school. The devastated father told the Star:
“I want people to just be careful with parking the cars around schools. Make sure you stop the motor, and to not go out without stopping the motor.
This could happen again, yesterday it was her, tomorrow, it can be another child.”
The Toronto school district is now urging parents to be extra careful in school zones if there’s “rain, sleet or snow” that could cause problems.
No charges have been filed against the person who left the car unattended, but CTV News Toronto reports an investigation is underway.
For now, the family is doing what they can to honor Camila’s memory. The heartbroken father said:
“It would be a year now after finishing chemotherapy and this just happened yesterday.”
A GoFundMe has been started to help the family with financial stress. It has raised more than $30,000 so far.
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