For the first time, NBC Connecticut heard from the father who lost his three young girls in a Christmas morning fire. The girls along with their grandparents were killed when a Stamford home went up in flames. Now this parent has made sure they aren’t forgotten, with an emotional tribute.
“A day with Lily was like a song. It was like being with a fairy she was a complicated personality,” said Matthew Badger. He just completed an online video that wasn’t easy to put together. “Gracie was the kind of girl content to sit inside a room and make remarkable creations,” Badger explained. The video is about his daughters. “This is Sarah she was a very social kid...a loving kid,” Badger added.
Matthew Badger never said goodbye to seven year old twins Sarah and Grace, and their ten year old sister Lily. They were asleep at their mother’s home in Stamford when a fire destroyed this place Christmas morning. “She was a remarkable kid,” Matthew Badger described. Sharing pictures and stories of his girls through the internet is his way of coping. “She was beautiful and she loved to laugh,” Badger explained.
The girls’ mother, Madonna Badger and her boyfriend were the only survivors. Investigators said her boyfriend may have accidentally started the fire, when he left a pile of smoldering embers from a fireplace near the front entrance. Within hours, the place was engulfed in flames. Lily, Sarah, and Grace, along with their grandparents died of smoke inhalation.
Matthew Badger decided to channel his grief to help other kids. He just started a project named after his daughters that will benefit thousands. “I’ve started a fund the arts in Americas public schools. It is called “Lily Sarah Grace Fund.” The goal is to raise money for schools that can’t afford art programs. Art was something the Badger girls loved most. “When she painted, the paint would be all over the place,” Badger described of his daughter.
Putting time and energy into this project has given Matthew Badger strength while keeping his daughters’ memories alive.
If you want more information go to LilySarahGraceFund.org.
