Crash sisters 'miracle' recovery

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A woman who lost her husband and eight-year-old child in a road accident has spoken of the miraculous recovery of her other two daughters.

James McGuigan, 30, and his daughter, Lorna, eight, died in the accident near Crumlin, just before Christmas.

Two other sisters Saoirse and Stacey, aged four and five, were critically injured, but are making good progress.

Their mother, Tina, said the two girls had helped her cope with her grief, adding: "They are my wee miracles."

"Having the girls has kept me strong. I do have my days where I am down and the girls have their days as well," she said.

"But I could have had nobody and I am grateful that they are still here today with me.

"They are on the mend. You want to see them, they are brilliant."

I don't feel angry, because God only takes the best in this world and he took them for a reason Mother

Saoirse suffered a fractured skull, broken collar bone and broken leg in the crash.

Stacy had a fractured skull and arm, bruising to her lungs and broken ribs.

Speaking on the BBC's Nolan show, Tina said her children were due to be discharged from hospital soon.

Bravery

Paying tribute to the staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, she said: "They were in a room together and there were two nurses, one for each of them.

"Any time one nurse went out, another one came in. They never left them alone at any time of the day."

She said cards had been sent from people she had never met before and from "the four corners of the world".

"I don't feel angry, because God only takes the best in this world and he took them for a reason," she said.

Parish priest Father Aidan Troy of the Holy Cross parish in Ardoyne, said he was amazed at the family's bravery.

"I saw them (the little girls) on Sunday afternoon they were in such wonderful form, it is terrific," he said.