(WXYZ) — Family and friends from around the state gathered in Dearborn Tuesday morning to say a final goodbye to a family of five from metro Detroit that was killed in a horrific car crash in Kentucky.
The Abbas family was driving home from vacationing in Florida early Sunday morning when the vehicle they were driving in was struck by a wrong-way driver around 2:30 a.m. According to the Lexington Police Department, a white pickup truck was traveling in the wrong direction in the northbound lanes of I-75 when it hit an SUV straight-on. The SUV then caught fire.
Inside the SUV was Issam Abbas, 42; Rima Abbas, 38; Ali Abbas, 14; Isabella Abbas, 13; and Giselle Abbas, 7. Police say the driver of the pickup was 41-year-old Joey Lee Bailey of Georgetown, Kentucky. All six died in the crash.
Rana Abbas Taylor lost her only sister, Rima, in the crash. She says Rima was the backbone of the family.
Rana says just before Christmas their grandmother passed away. Rima and her family canceled their trip to Florida but rescheduled last minute.
"I just needed somebody with me and my mom, just to deal with my grandmother's passing, but I didn’t want to have her feel guilty so I just didn’t say anything to her. I do wish I had, maybe she would have stayed,” Rana said.
The family is asking for donations to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in lieu of flowers or other donations. They have set up a special donation site with MADD here.
The family says they are not setting up any GoFundMe campaigns and that any such attempts to use that website for fundraising are not authorized by them.
