A teen mother and her unborn child now both lost after four-vehicle Fort Worth wreck
Despite a valiant effort to save her life, a 19-year-old pregnant woman died after a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 20 late Wednesday.
Jade Gilliam, of Fort Worth, was pronounced dead about 10:25 p.m. Thursday at John Peter Smith Hospital, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Gilliam was pregnant at the time of the crash and lost her unborn child, police reported. The cause and manner of Gilliam’s death were not listed.
The baby girl was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m. Wednesday at John Peter Smith Hospital, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s website showed. A ruling on the infant’s death is pending an autopsy.
Two MedStar paramedics, Miguel Brito and Ryan Bader, were en route when they saw a small sedan engulfed in flames, according to Matt Zavadsky, MedStar spokesman. One of the people inside was Jade Gilliam, according to authorities.
Brito and Bader grabbed a fire extinguisher out of the ambulance to reduce the flames enough so they could began freeing two unconscious victims from their car.
About the same time, the two paramedics saw fluids leaking from one of the vehicles, Zavadsky said.
As the flames approached, the paramedics dragged the first patient to safety next to the ambulance, Zavadsky said. Brito and Bader then freed another victim who had been pinned under the dash.
One of the MedStar crew members suffered several minor cuts to his arm and injured his back while he was freeing a trapped patient from a car. The paramedics called for additional resources and then worked at providing lifesaving care to both victims, Zavadsky said.
Both of the patients who were freed from their vehicles were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital and a third patient with minor injuries was taken to an area trauma center, according to authorities.
If not for the efforts of the paramedics, the victims would have likely burned alive in the car, Zavadsky said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 9:20 AM with the headline "A teen mother and her unborn child now both lost after four-vehicle Fort Worth wreck."
