Mom of 2 Killed on Way to Hospital to Deliver 3rd Child

Desiree Strout didn't survive the car crash, but the baby she was carrying did
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 24, 2018 9:25 AM CST
Mom of 2 Killed on Way to Hospital to Deliver 3rd Child
Stock image.   (Getty Images/Searsie)

A patch of black ice in Maine led to tragedy for a pregnant mom of two on her way to the hospital to deliver her third child. CentralMaine.com reports 27-year-old Desiree Strout was driving on US Route 2 in Skowhegan Monday morning with her husband, 29-year-old Harry Weeks, and their 8-year-old daughter (their other daughter, 2, wasn't with them), headed to a local hospital so she could be medically induced into labor. That's when, just 5 miles from their destination, Strout hit the stretch of black ice and lost control of the car, which slid into a bank of frozen snow on the roadside, then rolled and tipped onto its side on an iced-over pond, David Bucknam, chief of the Skowhegan Police Department, tells People. Emergency responders tried to resuscitate Strout at the edge of the pond, but to no avail; she's said to have died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Weeks ended up in critical condition with a punctured lung and torn liver, while their daughter suffered minor injuries. In a sliver of good news, Strout's baby boy was delivered by emergency C-section and was initially said to be in critical condition; his updated status after being moved to a Bangor hospital hasn't been divulged. One of Strout's friends tells People that those who know the family are "in such shock" over the accident. Per WGME, members of the community are doing what they can to help Weeks out, including a local beverage store that will donate some of its proceeds from recycled containers to the family. A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $10,000 so far out of a $50,000 goal, with any leftover money after funeral and medical costs to be set for a trust for the couple's children. (More car accident stories.)

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