A devastated father is mourning his 13-year-old daughter, who tragically lost her life in a boat accident in Miami on Monday. He recounted the last words his “perfect daughter,” Erin Cohan, said to him and his wife before the incident: “Later, Mom and Dad!” This was just as they dropped her off for her first day at the sailing camp at the Miami Yacht Club.
When he first heard about the crash, Ko hoped it was just a bad dream. But the reality hit hard, and he found himself praying for what he called a “miracle.”
“I was waiting for the hospital to call and tell us, ‘Your daughter is alive. She’s fine,'” he shared. That call, unfortunately, never came.
Ko and his wife hurried to Jackson Memorial Hospital, needing to see their daughter, who had sustained critical injuries.
“I can still picture it vividly. She had wounds all over—her head, arms, and legs,” he recalled with anguish.
Erin was a standout student at Nautilus Middle School, fluent in English, Spanish, and Korean, while also picking up Japanese. She was known for excelling in volleyball and had a passion for swimming.
“She was the perfect girl,” Ko said with pride and sorrow intertwined.
The KO family, originally from Chile, had relocated to Florida in 2024 to provide Erin with better opportunities. Now, they are grappling with profound grief and are demanding “justice” for her untimely death.
“We’re in so much pain because she was everything for us,” Ko expressed. “We need to honor her memory; we can’t just say goodbye like nothing happened. We need answers.”
Erin was one of two children killed after a barge collided with a yacht during a sailing camp. Milayankelevich, a 7-year-old granddaughter of a renowned Argentine television producer, also lost her life in the accident. Two other campers, aged 8 and 11, were seriously injured, while the yacht’s 19-year-old instructor and a 12-year-old girl were unharmed.
The U.S. Coast Guard is currently investigating the tragic collision, and the unidentified captain of the barge underwent alcohol testing at the scene but was not arrested.
