The three sisters injured in the horrific head-on collision on the M9, which left five teenagers dead, have ‘a long recovery ahead’, friends have revealed.
Although Niamh and Alma Kinsella and their younger sister Ella remain seriously injured, those close to the siblings are increasingly hopeful that the three young women, aged between 30 and 20, will make a full recovery.
Family and relatives are keeping a bedside vigil as medical teams in three Dublin hospitals – Tallaght University, St Vincent’s and Children’s Health Ireland – continue to care for Niamh, Ella, Alma and Alma’s seven-year-old son Yemi.
A friend told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘They have a long, long recovery ahead of them.
“One of them has spinal injuries and many broken bones, and young Yemi has broken a leg.
‘But people are relieved that none of them are in a brain specialist, so that means none of them have brain damage.
“God forbid there should be a change. We think they will recover, but no one knows how long that will take. Their injuries could be life-changing, but as far as how life-changing they are, no one knows at this point.”
Another friend added: ‘All I can say is it was a matter of time and they went from critical to seriously injured.
‘There were operations during the week. Young Yemi has a broken leg and he asked to have his cast painted red because he is a Manchester United supporter.’
The first person at the scene of the horror crash – which took place in the early hours of last Sunday morning – was one of around a thousand people who gathered at St Clare’s church in Graiguecullen on Friday evening for a vigil to pray for the survivors’ full recovery.
Niamh and Alma Kinsella with their sister Ella Hendricken
Grace Kelly was also on her way to Dublin airport on Sunday and was said to have been the first car to arrive on the slip road to the motorway after the head-on collision.
Others who attended the hour-long religious service included Alma and Niamh’s father Pat, their uncle John and their aunt Maura.
A friend explained: ‘Grace arrived before the ambulance or paramedics and the guards told her there had been an accident. She heard the little boy screaming in the backseat.
‘He has a broken leg, so he must have been screaming in pain.
“The two older girls were unconscious and the third woman was out of the car. If Grace had been ten minutes earlier, it could have been her. She couldn’t do anything for them because she’s not a paramedic.”
