26-Year-Old Michigan Mom of a 5-Year-Old Girl Is Killed in Hit-And-Run on Her Way Back Home

A Michigan woman's family is left with the unfortunate responsibility of informing her five-year-old daughter of her demise at the hands of a reckless driver who refused to do the right thing. Here are the details.

Death comes for all, and most times, humans don't see it coming. But 26-year-old Michigan mom Natia Hardy certainly didn't, and neither did her family, who are now left grappling with the grief of losing a member.

The accident that killed her happened along the I-94 Service Drive in Van Buren Township on July 27.

ANOTHER DRIVER FOUND THE BODY

Hardy had been walking home after visiting a friend who lived close to her house when the fatal collision happened, but the driver never stopped to help her. Her adopted mother, Lizz Fizer, said, "You kept going and left her on the side of the road to die like an animal."

According to the police, another driver called them around 12:38 a.m. after seeing what he thought was a person down on North Service Drive, west of Beck road. The responders found Hardy's body and pronounced her dead at the scene.

Authorities swung into action after finding Hardy, and they made an arrest around 9 a.m. that same day. It was a 61-year-old man who lived around the area. When he hit Hardy, it left a noticeable dent on his car, which is how he was identified at a traffic stop and taken in.

HER FAMILY'S DEVASTATION

The police were able to track down and arrest the culprit of the tragic accident that claimed Hardy's life; however, her family is having a hard time coming to terms with her abrupt passing.

Hardy had only just begun to live her life when the tragedy struck; she had a beautiful daughter named Ava, whom she loved desperately. According to her adopted mother, she had also been preparing to become a nurse.

Her demise was a big shock to Fizer. Putting the feelings into words, she said, "I literally cannot breath. I feel like I'm in the middle of a nightmare that I cannot wake up from (sic)."

As Hardy's family struggles to come to terms with what has happened, they also have to work on how to tell Hardy's daughter that her mom will never come home again. It is not a task any of them is looking forward to. Fizer said:

"So how are we supposed to explain to a 5-year-old that her mother is never coming back home? How do we do that?"

Fizer hopes that her daughter's demise will be a caution to everyone. As far as she is concerned, things may have turned out differently if the driver had only stopped to take responsibility. But, unfortunately, he didn't, and now he will pay the price for the demise of Hardy.

Several hours ago, Fizer took to Facebook to thank her friends who had reached out in one way or the other and urged them to live without regrets because tomorrow is not promised.

In response to her post, more users on Facebook took to the comments to wish her well and encourage her. Most of the comments looked like these:

"Many hugs, my sweet girl."

— (@Ava Winans Cole) July 28, 2022

"I'm so sorry for you loss Lizz, I'll keep you in all my prayers (sic)."

— (@Nikki Tolbert) July 28, 2022

TIPS THAT CAN HELP WHEN TELLING A CHILD ABOUT DEATH

It is never easy to deliver the news of death to a child; most people would most likely avoid it if they could but running from the responsibility seldom works. According to Psychology Today, here are a few tips that can help:

• Be straightforward about what happened as soon as possible. This will help your child learn how to process grief since they will notice the way you express your pain and deal with the mourning.
• A child's emotional reaction to the news may cover a wide range of varieties, so be prepared for that.
• Be sure to use words like "dead" and "died" rather than phrases like "passed away" as it helps the grieving process.
• Don't explain everything at once. Monitor the child to know how much they can handle, then feed them the information in bits to avoid overwhelming them.
• Let them see you cry or cry with them. It can be therapeutic.