Colorado Woman Suffers Broken Back, Receives Emergency C-Section After Horrific Car Crash
The labor pains of a pregnant wife in Colorado would mark both a joyous and horrific moment in her life. Jill Schmucker, mother of two, and her husband Tony, were driving toward the hospital on Jan. 13 when Tony had a seizure or some kind of brain stroke and then crashed the vehicle into a boulder. The Schmuckers and their sons, 6-year-old Ryder, and 4-year-old Rollie, were taken to the hospital for what would be their last time together.
“I had Ryder look for the phone in Tony’s pants and he found it and then we kind of worked together to call 911 and he did a lot of the talking because I couldn’t get a signal from where I was in the car,” said Jill, USA Today reported.
First responders arrived at the scene, and realized Jill's back was broken, so they cut open the car to get her out. She was then taken via helicopter to the Medical Center of the Rockies where she had an emergency Caesarean section (C-section). Tony was transported to Poudre Valley Hospital to be treated.
Jill didn't officially find out what happened until she had the baby and was waiting to hear about her back. "I didn’t really want to know,” she said, before she was told the devastating news — her husband was pronounced dead.
The cause of death has not been determined, but Investigator James MacNaughton from the Larimer County Coroner's Office told the Coloradoan initial findings suggest he did not die from traumatic injuries related to the wreck. Rather, it was a medical event that caused the crash. “He had a seizure or some kind of brain stroke or aneurysm -- they said it could be any of those,” Jill said.
Meanwhile, the mother of now three was able to give birth to another healthy son, Leedan, via an emergency Cesarean section. Typically, emergency C-sections are performed if the mother or the baby had a complication during pregnancy or labor that was immediately life-threatening, according to the Mayo Clinic. Jill was unconscious and sustained severe injuries, which threatened both her and the baby’s health.
A GoFundMe page, "Schmucker Family Fund,” has been set up for Jill and her boys to help them get back on their feet.
"She is expected to make a full recovery. But with three small children, she is going to need lots of support,” reads the page.
It continued: "Please help us raise money for his beautiful wife and children as they learn to live without him.”
The GoFundMe page has raised over $80,000, just $20,000 shy of their $100,000 goal.
Jill is making progress and is beginning to move forward one step at a time, as are her boys. Jill and the boys look forward to cheering extra hard for the Broncos on this Superbowl Sunday in honor of Tony, a die-hard Broncos fan, according to the GoFundMe page. Tony and Jill proudly created their own "Broncos family."