Emmanuel Nwabuoku has said that his daughter, Mitchell Chukwubueze Nwabuoku was killed by a train recently while playing with her siblings. Nwabuoku is not only mourning the loss of his child, but also the loss of his mother, who died two days before Mitchell died.
While talking about her departed daughter, Nwabuoku said: “Mitchell is an angel, she speaks like an angel. Mitchell is acting like an angel.”
He said Mitchell left the apartment with her older siblings to buy ice cream at the park.
He said: “Just 15 minutes later, we got the call that she couldn’t breathe and we ran out right away.”
At around 7.40 pm, the attention of rescue workers was called to the area of Dundas Street and Cawthra Road to receive reports of a child that was hit by a GO train.
He said his children were running after a butterfly before his youngest daughter ran down a path onto the train tracks, where she was hit by an oncoming train.
He said: “They said they followed a butterfly. They played in the park and chased the butterfly to this spot. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t hear anything else. Just for me to see my daughter lying lifeless on the floor.”
Peel police confirmed that Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene before 9 pm.
Metrolinx, the operator of the GO train service, said about 300 passengers were on board the train that struck Mitchell.
The day after the fatal accident, Muhammad Tayyab, a witness who owns a nearby garage told CP24 he was working when the train honked its horn and he heard the loud screech of a train brake.
He said: “When I came out of my garage, I saw that the train had stopped. That has never happened before.
“Three children were screaming and crying very loudly. I was shocked. I ran over there… I saw the body, there was a child on the side… They were hurt very badly.”
Mitchell was born in Dallas, Texas in 2017 and relocated with her family to Canada in 2018.
Nwabuoku said Mitchell was a happy child that brought joy to everyone’s life.
He said: “Mitchell was a lively person. Mitchell was a cheerful person. Mitchell has touched lives… Mitchell couldn’t sleep without hugging everyone. Mitchell couldn’t do anything without kissing daddy because Mitchell was daddy’s princess. Mitchell was everything for us.”
He added that no words could explain the pain of losing his child but thanked everybody for the love and support. He said: “What can I say…I know what it means to lose a child. For those who weep for us, God will comfort each one of us.”
Mitchell’s burial took place recently in Mississauga’s Turner & Porter Funeral Home.
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