Nationwide — Marcus Ragland and Ashley Brooke Hawkins, an African American father and mother of seven children from Rome, Georgia, died in an ATV crash at Indian Mountain ATV Park in Alabama. All of their children survived the accident but were injured, with some having to be airlifted to different hospitals.
The crash happened Sunday evening in Cherokee County, just west of the Georgia-Alabama state line. Ragland, 34, was driving the ATV and died at the scene. Hawkins, 31, was taken to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where she later died from her injuries.
Four of the children were airlifted to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia, while three others were flown to a hospital in Birmingham. Doctors expect them to recover, though one of the youngest, a 12-month-old, remains under close care.
At the hospital, family friend Monica Watkins stayed close to the children. “They keep asking for momma, and I don’t want to say because we haven’t told them about her yet,” she told WSB-TV. Watkins had lived with Hawkins for years and helped raise her children.
Watkins said she now plans to step in for the children. “I have to be strong for these babies because I’m going to have to play the mother role. I can never replace their mom, but I’m going to have to feel like mom.”
Ragland, who died in the crash, was the father of 10 children and reportedly had two more on the way. Two of his children were with Hawkins, while others live with different families.
Watkins asked the community to keep praying for the children as they recover from the crash and begin life without their parents.