An Andover woman who lost three family members in a head-on crash in Ham Lake last month has been released from the hospital, while her surviving daughter remains in critical condition.
A GoFundMe post last week said Rhodia Xiong, 26, had been released from the hospital. Daughter Kyrie Lee, 7, is "showing signs of improvement," the post said.
"The doctors do see that she is moving her fingers and her toes so that's a really good sign," Maxine Vue, 37, Lee's aunt, said at an Aug. 30 news conference hosted by the Hmong 18 Council.
Lee Vang, 28, Astrid Lee, 3, and Levi Lee, 6 months, were killed in the Aug. 28 crash. Vang was driving an SUV carrying the family westbound on Bunker Lake Boulevard when his vehicle crossed a concrete median and struck an eastbound pickup truck, according to the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. The crash remains under investigation.
Xiong and Lee Vang had been together for nine years and are "married culturally," Vue said.
The day before the crash, she said, the family was at her house to celebrate her son's birthday. "They were over just enjoying, having fun, eating cake. And then the next day, you just cannot imagine that, the turn of events," she said.
The morning after the birthday party, Lee Vang, Astrid Lee, Levi Lee and Rhodia Xiong attended the Minnesota State Fair; Kyrie had stayed at Vue's house for a sleepover. When the family left the fair, they picked up Kyrie and headed home, Vue said.
When Vue's mother told her over the phone about the fatal crash, Vue said, "I've never screamed so loud in my life. Knowing that that was true, I was in disbelief."
