12-Year-Old Girl Dies A Month After Tree Fell On SUV

PURCELLVILLE, VA — A 12-year-old girl who was critically injured when a tree fell on her family's SUV in Purcellville on Nov. 22 has died. The girl, Lindsey Jane Carmello, died Dec. 10, her mother reported on a GoFundMe site set up to help the family deal with the accident and the costs of care for Lindsey Jane.

Lindsey Jane had been in a medically induced coma since the Nov. 22 accident on Purcellville Road. The accident happened around 7 p.m. when a tree fell on the front side of the vehicle traveling on Purcellville Road (Route 611) near Mayfair Crown Drive just north of the Route 7 bypass and trapped Lindsey Jane and her father in the SUV.

Lindsey Jane and her father were airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment. Lindsey Jane sustained a traumatic brain injury and remained in critical condition at the hospital while her father was released from the hospital on Nov. 25.

Fire and rescue officials said it took about 45 minutes from the time of the call to the fire department to the extrication of Lindsey Jane and her father in the front seats, according to the Loudoun Times-Mirror. A third girl, who was in the back seat of the car, was able to get out of the vehicle on her own. She was transported to Inova Loudoun Hospital-Cornwall Campus with non-life threatening injuries.

Describing her as "the most precious, sweetest, kindest little girl," Lindsey Jane's mother, MaryAnn Carmello, provided a Dec. 11 update on the GoFundMe site, letting the public know that Lindsey Jane had died at 8 p.m. on Dec. 10.

"We have many beautiful memories of Lindsey at Lovettsville Elementary, Harmony Middle School, dance classes and recitals, band concerts playing the clarinet, learning German, vacations at Outer Banks, Virginia Beach and of course Disney World," the mother wrote. "She will always be our little flower, little butterfly, and our sweet little bunny rabbit, because she would walk around the house on her tippy toes."

As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe site to help pay medical bills and support the family had raised more than $48,300 in donations. Given Lindsey Jane's special love for animals, the family is asking that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of Loudoun County and the Loudoun County Animal Services.

Lindsey Jane was baptized at Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn and was a member of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg. A memorial service for Lindsey Jane Carmello will be held on Sunday, Dec. 22 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Cornerstone Chapel, 650 Battlefield Parkway SE, Leesburg.

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