Parks Highway Tragedy: Toddler Survives Crash That Killed Her Parents
Two-year-old Paige Hart is recovering from six broken bones after a head-on collision on the Parks Highway that took the lives of her parents.
By Zoe Harrison ·
Paige Hart is healing quickly from the injuries she sustained in a fatal crash on the Parks Highway last week. The two-year-old girl suffered six broken bones in the accident but was the sole survivor of her family vehicle.
Alaska State Troopers determined that her mother, 38-year-old Sasha Hart, was driving a Subaru Forester southbound near Trapper Creek on Oct. 19. The car crossed the center line and collided head-on with a northbound Ford F-250. Sasha Hart and her husband, 41-year-old David Hart, died in the crash.
The couple had recently marked their 10-year anniversary. According to family members, they built a shared life in Fairbanks that blended Sasha’s Jamaican heritage with David’s Alaskan roots. They enjoyed traveling, watching hockey, and sharing meals together.
Shery Elterman-Hart, David’s sister, described the bond between the family and her late niece-in-law. “She just became one of us. We were really close with David before they met, but then when she came, she just sort of lumped right in,” Elterman-Hart said. Her sister Katie Ragsdale noted that the couple’s primary focus was their daughter. “She was their entire world,” Ragsdale said. “I don’t know if it’s Paige’s house or their house.”
Family members observe that Paige displays traits of both parents, including her mother’s facial expressions and her father’s love of sweets. “You still have a piece of them, a living piece of them still on Earth,” Ragsdale said. Elterman-Hart held the toddler during a recent interview and said, “She’s a miracle. Aren’t you?”
The family says Paige is recovering rapidly from her injuries. The crash left her with six broken bones, but she is continuing to heal at home in Fairbanks.
