WATCH: The father of the rescued toddler says he is blessed to have his baby, but will miss his fiance who died in the car accident. Dan Rascon reports.
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah toddler rescued from a car 14 hours after it crashed into a frigid river was released from a hospital Wednesday, days after the accident that killed her mother.
Eighteen-month-old Lily Groesbeck was released from Primary Children’s Hospital at about 4 p.m., spokeswoman Bonnie Midget said. Other than a few bruises, the girl is in great condition – playing, talking and reciting nursery rhymes, said father Deven Trafny.
“She should be gone. She shouldn’t be here,” Trafny, 34, told reporters. “I’m blessed. I’m counting all my blessings right now.”
Rescuers found the baby strapped into her car seat, hanging upside down as icy water flowed through the car.
A fisherman spotted the car Saturday, the day after it hit a cement barrier on a bridge and careened into the river in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City.
READ MORE: Toddler improving after spending 14 hours in upside-down car in river
Police said that even though the road over the bridge gets plenty of traffic, no one saw the wreck because the cement barrier obstructed the view. Police were investigating what caused the crash but say the girl’s mother, Lynn Groesbeck, 25, of Springville, could have been distracted or drowsy.
Spanish Fork police Lt. Matt Johnson told Salt Lake City television station KUTV on Wednesday that investigators found a bag of what looks marijuana in the car, along with a bottle of 16 pills they think are pain medications and an opened syringe. Johnson said they won’t know if drugs contributed to the crash until toxicology reports come back in several weeks.
Lynn Groesbeck was engaged to Trafny, a drywall worker who was working in Montana when he learned about the crash, the Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City reported.
“She was the love of my life, and I’m going to miss her a lot,” he said.
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