Family photoThe dad of a six-month-old who died in a car crash in a multi-storey car park has said his family is “devastated” by her death.
Alex Kelemen, 27, his wife Betty, 26, and their daughter Sophia were on holiday in Tenby, Pembrokeshire when she was fatally injured on 2 January.
Mr Kelemen, from Leigh, Greater Manchester, said his daughter’s death was like “a horror movie”.
Flaviu Naghi, 33, from Wigan, is due to appear at Swansea Crown Court on 7 February charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.
The family had taken some final holiday photographs and had packed their bags and were preparing to head home when the incident happened.
“Just before we got to the car, the horror movie started,” said Mr Kelemen.
“It’s hard to know and to think about what happened.”
Alex KelemenSophia was taken to hospital and underwent surgery as a result of her injuries, but the “little star” died the next day.
“It’s been horrific to see our little daughter being in that bed and go through all those procedures,” said Mr Kelemen.
“Everybody loved her, all of our friends, our friends.”
Now, the couple are navigating their grief and trying to help their five-year-old son, Lucas, understand that he will never see Sophia again.
“He’s been asking about his little sister every day since it happened.
“The biggest pain I’ve had was explaining to him that God loved his sister more than we did and God gave Sophia a brand new set of wings so that she could fly over him and protect him.”
Mr Kelemen hopes to get his young son back into a routine and arrange specialist grief counselling for him.
“There are things I don’t know how to explain him. He’s our only son now and he’s the most important for us,” he said.
Originally from Romania, the family hope to lay their daughter to rest in their homeland as soon as her body is released.
“She’s always going to live in my heart,” he said.
“I know she’s gonna be watching me every day.”
An inquest into Sophia’s death is expected to open on Tuesday.
