A grandmother and her 7-year-old granddaughter were killed in a West Portsmouth crash, leaving a family shattered and an entire community looking for ways to help.
Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said the crash happened on State Route 73 in Washington Township when a Hyundai Elantra driven by Christina Madden, 66, of South Shore, attempted to turn left onto Calverts Lane.
Troopers said the Hyundai failed to yield and was struck by a southbound Chevrolet Silverado driven by a 26-year-old Lucasville man.
Christina Madden and her passenger, 7-year-old Alannah Madden, died at the scene.
The Silverado driver was taken to Southern Ohio Medical Center with minor injuries.
The crash remains under investigation by the Portsmouth Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
But in the hours after the crash, the story became about much more than what happened on the highway.
It became about a family grieving two generations at once.
“It Was My Baby Alannah”
Alannah’s mother shared the devastating news with friends and family after word of the crash began spreading through social media.
She said her daughter and Alannah’s grandmother had both died at the scene and described both sides of the family as shocked, overwhelmed, and numb.
She asked the community for prayers as the family faces not just the next few days, but the months and years ahead without them.
“Jesus loves them and loves us and will give us strength,” she wrote.
Remembering a Grandmother Who Loved Her Family
Christina’s daughter-in-law remembered her as a woman who welcomed her into the family with open arms and loved her grandchildren fiercely.
She described Christina as one of the strongest and sweetest people she had ever known.
“The love of a grandmother is never ending,” she wrote.
She also spoke about the close bond between Alannah and her cousin Adrian, saying the two were more like brother and sister than cousins.
Now, the family is trying to help a child understand why both his grandmother and his cousin are suddenly gone.
West Side Steps Up
Almost immediately, people began looking for ways to help.
The Portsmouth West Siders Youth Football Program announced a bake sale and began accepting baked goods, sympathy cards, gift cards, and monetary donations for Alannah’s family.
Local families and small businesses have already volunteered to contribute.
Donations are being organized around the West Portsmouth school community, with proceeds going directly to the family to help ease some of the day-to-day burdens that come with sudden tragedy.
And the support has spread well beyond West Portsmouth.
Head Start and Early Head Start shared messages saying they were praying for the Portsmouth West Senators.
Portsmouth City Schools also posted words of support.
And Notre Dame Schools set school colors and rivalries aside with a message to the West community.
“There are moments when school colors and rivalries simply do not matter,” the school wrote. “This is one of those moments.”
Notre Dame told Portsmouth West families that they were standing beside them in grief and prayer.
Senator Strong
For a 7-year-old child, school, sports, cousins, grandparents, and community are the whole world.
For the adults around her, Alannah was someone’s daughter, granddaughter, cousin, teammate, classmate, and friend.
Christina was a mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and the kind of person family members say made people feel loved from the moment they joined the family.
Nothing the community does can undo what happened on State Route 73.
But in the days since the crash, people across the area have shown the Madden family that they will not have to carry the weight alone.
From bake sales and donations to prayers posted in school colors from across the county, the message has been the same:
West Portsmouth is hurting. And the community is showing up.
