Georgia man who was planning to propose watches in horror as bride-to-be is killed in horrifying seven-car crash
A Georgia man is fighting for his life after a horror seven-car crash that killed his girlfriend, whose family heartbreakingly revealed he was planning to propose.
The tragedy occurred on September 27 on I-75 in Atlanta, where McKayla Harshaw, 24, lost her life when two trucks crashed into several cars and overturned the vehicle she was in.
Harshaw’s friend Andrew Perez, who was driving the vehicle, survived the crash but was hospitalized with a fractured skull, broken neck and back, broken ribs and a concussion.
As tributes poured in for the “beautiful and blossoming” young woman, Harshaw’s family said in a Facebook post that Perez’s brother told them he planned to propose to McKayla soon.
McKayla Harshaw, 24, (left) tragically died in a horror seven-car crash on a highway in Atlanta, Georgia, which also left her boyfriend Andrew Perez fighting for his life in hospital.
The crash occurred on September 27 on the I-75 freeway in Atlanta, when the collision of two trucks struck five other vehicles, causing the vehicle Harshaw and Perez were riding to overturn.
Harshaw’s family said her untimely death came just four days before her 25th birthday, saying in a solemn post on social media that she will now “be 24 forever.”
“McKayla would have turned 25 on Monday,” said her mother Melissa Gunther. “Now we’re planning her funeral.”
Melissa said her daughter didn’t have life insurance, and shared one GoFundMe to help the family pay for the funeral, which at the time of writing was over $17,000.
The crash occurred after traffic was forced to go around a vehicle, causing two trucks to collide as they slowed, Georgia State Troopers said.
The trucks hit a van, which then hit another car, which in turn hit Perez’s Toyota Corolla the couple was in, causing it to overturn.
Harshaw was the only fatality at the scene, involving a total of seven vehicles, including the two trucks.
Tributes poured in for McKayla, who was described by her family as a ‘beautiful, blossoming young woman with her whole life ahead of her’
McKayla died just days before her birthday, which she shared with her grandmother, and mourned their shared birthday days later in a heartbreaking Facebook post shared by her family
Horror images of the aftermath showed a number of vehicles strewn across the highway, which was closed for several hours after the crash.
Harshaw’s mother said at 5:30 p.m. that day she received the news that “no parent should ever have to put up with this.”
“Two Georgia State Patrol cars came to our house to tell us the devastating news,” she wrote on social media.
Days later, on what would have been McKayla’s 25th birthday, she said in another post, “You were supposed to be 25 today, but I realized this afternoon that you will be 24 forever.”
‘We miss your smile and your spirited personality. We sang Happy Birthday to Grandma tonight (since you both had the same birthday). Then we sang it to you a second time. We miss you so much. Happy 25th birthday to my beautiful girl.’
Melissa accompanied the post with a heartbreaking image of McKayla’s grandmother crying on her birthday while being comforted by family members.
In the GoFundMe for her funeral, McKayla was described as a “beautiful, blossoming young woman with her whole life ahead of her.”