Deadly accident involving twins leaves family reeling

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Crystal Miller floats between feelings of grief and gratitude every day.

Ever since a car crash in northern Indiana last September stole the life of one of her 10-year-old twins and left the other fighting to survive, she has been trying to adjust to her new reality.

Andrew and Abigail Brett were in a car driven by their father near Argos, Indiana, when the vehicle and another collided on the evening of Sept. 12, 2025. The impact was most severe on Abigail’s side of the car. She and Andrew were transported to two different hospitals, before being airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Abigail passed away soon after arriving at Riley, while Andrew clung to life in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Miller, who was awakened in the middle of the night to news of the accident, immediately set out for Indianapolis, several hours away from her Michigan home.

“He was on life support,” Miller said. “They didn’t know if he was going to come out of it.”

The image of her son connected to tubes and machines was enough to make her own heart stop when she saw him, but she knew she had to be tough, she said, adding that his older sisters didn’t leave his side for two weeks.

“He needed us.”

And they, in turn, needed the support of Riley team members – whether human or canine – to help them move through the days, the weeks, the months ahead.

Nurses, physicians, case managers, therapists, child life specialists and Gus, one of Riley’s certified therapy dogs, all played a role in Andrew’s recovery.

It was Gus who came to be with the boy shortly after his mother told him about his twin sister’s passing.

“He was really heartbroken,” said Miller, speaking by phone from her Michigan home.

But the gentle English bulldog brought a smile to his face during the boy’s monthslong hospitalization while he was away from his own pup at home, Gunner.

Andrew, who suffered multiple injuries in the crash, including a traumatic brain injury, advanced from the PICU to the ninth floor to the inpatient rehab unit at Riley, before being discharged shortly before Thanksgiving.

“When he rang that bell, oh my heart, I just couldn’t believe it,” Miller said of her son’s bell and butterfly ceremony.

She remembers how, when he was moved to rehab, she had doubts.

“I thought they were crazy,” she said. “I didn’t think he was ready – he couldn’t walk or talk or barely open his eyes – but they knew what they were doing.”

She recalls how speech pathologist Bailey Barron helped Andrew find his words again, early on through song.

“Speech therapy got him to sing before he could talk. We would play music, and he started singing,” Miller said.

“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” by Luke Combs, was his favorite.

He always smiled when he heard the music, Barron recalled. First, he would mouth the words before he was able to use his voice.

“It’s sometimes easier for patients to do automatic speech tasks like singing and counting because it’s preserved in a different area of our brain,” Barron explained.

“As we did it more and more, he was able to sing more, which was really special to see.”

He began counting on his fingers, then he was able to count out loud.

“Before I knew it, he was starting to say words,” Miller said.

Every day a little bit more of the miracle of his recovery revealed itself.

None of it was easy.

“Therapy wore him out for sure,” Miller said. “But he had a great attitude. That is his personality; he is so easy-going. Even being in that hospital bed and having to wear that brace and cast, he was still the same old Andrew.”

Barron remembers getting goosebumps when she watched Andrew ring the bell and pin his butterfly to the wall in the rehab unit.

“It was so cool to see how much he had improved, from the first day when we were working to keep his eyes open, to the last day when he was correcting me if I said a sentence wrong.”

Through it all, Barron was impressed with the grace Andrew’s mom displayed despite the trauma she and the family suffered.

“She always showed up for Andrew, which is such a great experience for us when you have those family members who are always there for the kiddos, no matter what.”

After 2½ months at Riley, Miller and her daughters were thrilled to bring Andrew home to Michigan in time to celebrate Thanksgiving. Their gratitude runs deep, even amid the grief they hold over losing Abigail.

“She was amazing,” Miller said of her youngest daughter. “Both kids were straight-A students and very caring kids. They were very attentive to other kids who were struggling, always taking them under their wing.”

Andrew, who turned 11 on Jan. 7, started back to school part-time this month and is doing well, his mom said.

Riley teams facilitated a Circle of Friends Zoom call with Andrew, his school principal and a couple of his close friends to help them understand what he’d been through before he returned to school.

Today he continues his recovery, his mom said, “but he is getting around the house by himself with his walker, doing pretty much everything by himself.”

Eventually, she believes he will be able to walk without assistance.

As she reflects on the past several months, Miller is clear about her regard for the Riley staff.

“I tell you, there’s no better place to go,” she said. “From the ICU to the ninth floor to rehab, you have such amazing teams that work so well together. They’re so strong.”

At the same time, she wants other families to know that no matter how daunting the path ahead is, they do not walk it alone.

Of course, the care teams play a vital role in supporting families, but it’s more than that, she said.

“There are so many people going through the same thing there. Take the time to talk to them. I ran into some really nice people in the laundry room, and they helped brighten my day.

“Take advantage of the Ronald McDonald House if you can,” she added. “Just know you’re not the only one there trying to get through a very hard time.”