The Young Single Mother Among Gibbstown Crash Victims Left a Final Note for Her Daughter That Has Shattered Hearts Everywhere – A Tragic Reminder of Life’s Fragility

November 30, 2025 – Heartbreaking: one of the five victims of the devastating Gibbstown L3168 crash was a young single mother whose adorable 4-year-old daughter attended her funeral clutching a teddy bear and asking, “Mommy, when will you come back?” The innocent question, whispered through tears as mourners gathered at St. Mary’s Church in Dunshaughlin on Friday, left hundreds weeping uncontrollably. Even more gut-wrenching is the note the 23-year-old mother, Chloe Hipson, left for her daughter Mia before leaving home on November 17 – a final message discovered in her bedroom that has shattered hearts across Ireland. This tragic story reminds us of the fragility of life and the unimaginable pain left behind for those who loved her most.

A shop displays a picture of five friends who died in a car crash at the weekend, during the funeral service of one of the victims, Dylan Commins, 23, from Ardee in Co Louth, (top left), at the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady, in Ardee

Chloe, a care worker from Glasgow visiting friends in Ireland, was one of five young people killed when the overloaded Volkswagen Golf they were travelling in veered off the rural road near Gibbstown at 9:42 p.m. The others – Aoife McGrath (17), Ava O’Brien (18), Nicole Murphy (17), and Kian Finnegan (18) – were all teenagers from the local area. Only one passenger, 20-year-old Dylan East, survived with serious injuries.

At the funeral, little Mia, dressed in pink – her mother’s favourite colour – stood beside Chloe’s white coffin, holding a framed photo of them together. As the priest spoke of “angels called home too soon,” Mia turned to her grandmother and asked the question that silenced the church: “When is Mommy coming back from heaven?” Mourners, including Chloe’s devastated parents Lisa and John Hipson, broke down. “She doesn’t understand,” Lisa later told RTÉ News. “Every night she asks for her bedtime story from Mommy.”

The note, found taped inside Mia’s favourite storybook The Very Hungry Caterpillar, was read aloud by Chloe’s sister at the service: “My beautiful Mia, If you’re reading this, Mommy had to go on a long trip. Be brave like a butterfly, laugh like the sun, and know I’m watching you every day. You are my whole world. Love you to the moon and back, forever and always. —Mummy x”

The message, written just hours before Chloe left for what was meant to be a weekend reunion with old school friends, has been shared over 1.2 million times online, with #ChloesLetter trending nationwide. “She always said she wanted Mia to know she was loved, no matter what,” her mother Lisa said through tears.

Chloe, a single mum who moved from Scotland to Ireland two years ago for a fresh start, worked double shifts at a Drogheda care home to give Mia “everything she never had.” Friends described her as “the mum who made birthday cakes at 3 a.m. and still had energy to dance with Mia to Taylor Swift.”

As five coffins were carried from churches across Meath this week, Ireland mourns not just five young lives – but the futures stolen from children like Mia, who will grow up with only letters and memories of a mother who loved her beyond measure.

Rest in peace, Chloe. Your light lives on in Mia.