The toddler son of MMA star Marcus Kowal was tragically killed after a drink driver ploughed into his stroller on Saturday, September 4th.
Liam Mikeal Kowal, just 15 months and his 15-year-old aunt were struck at a crossroads at 4:15 p.m in Hawthorne, California.
The driver, Donna Marie Higgins, fled the scene, but witnesses followed her SUV and surrounded it until authorities arrived.
A press release issued by the Hawthorne Police Department said Liam’s teenage aunt suffered “from what appeared to be leg injuries,” while he was found “pulseless and not breathing.”
Higgins, 72, was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run and drunken driving and booked into Hawthorne jail with a $100,000 bail.
Taking to ABC7 news Liam’s devastated dad said: “I saw [Liam’s] stroller in two pieces and he had a little green frog that he’s had with him since day one … and he carries around wherever he is.
“He won’t sleep without his green frog, and it was lying in the middle of the street.”
That evening, the professional kickboxer and mixed martial arts athlete Kowal and his partner, Mishel Eder, took to his Facebook page with a sad update from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
They wrote “About an hour ago, our baby was declared brain dead. He tried to fight so hard. He even died at one point, but they brought him back. He’s a little fighter.
“His heart is still beating, but his brain is no longer working. Our hearts are broken and there’s a void in my soul, but we will get through this.”
Liam was disconnected from life support later that night.
“I’m a fighter, I can take pain, I’ve taken pain my whole life and nothing hurts as much as this,” Kowal told ABC7. “I was proud to be a dad and I wanted to raise a good child.”
Kowal and Eder are donating Liam’s organs
Kowal said: “So his heart can live through another child. He loved to share, so I know he would have wanted to share his heart.”
A GoFundMe account was set up to help the family with medical expenses and funeral costs.