Baby Boy Clinging to Life After ‘Amazing Mom’ Was Killed in Car Crash on Way to Delivery
January 24, 2018The Maine mother of two who was killed while driving herself to the hospital at nine months pregnant to be induced to deliver her third child leaves behind her newborn baby boy — who miraculously survived but is still in critical condition.
Desiree Strout, 28, of Canaan, Maine, was in the car on Monday with her husband, Harry Weeks, and their 8-year-old daughter when she lost control, struck a patch of black ice, slid off the road and rolled and hit frozen snow built up along the side of the road.
The vehicle then rolled onto a frozen pond and came to rest on its side, Chief David Bucknam of the Skowhegan Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE. Weeks is currently in the hospital with a punctured lung, lacerated liver and broken ribs.
The family is not sure whether their baby boy — whom they named Gage Weeks —is going to make it, Strout’s cousin Travis Weston tells PEOPLE.
Desiree Strout, Harry Weeks and daughter
Jessica Michael Photography
Weston says Strout and Weeks, who were married for eight years, were excited to have a third child and continue to build their family.
“Desiree was the love of his life and this has crushed him,” Weston tells PEOPLE. “They were very loud and energetic. It was constant bickering, but always with a smile on their face.”
As for Desiree, he added, “one of the things I found most compelling about her was that she didn’t just love her kids, she respected them. She let them be their own people and that’s rare to find these days.”
Jessica Michael Photography
The couple’s youngest daughter, who is just two years old, wasn’t in the car at the time of the accident, but is currently being cared for by loved ones.
Weston says only their child was wearing a seat belt, which “is one of the piece of the story that’s really affecting me.”
“It’s the ‘what ifs?,’ ” he says. “What if she [Desiree] was buckled?”
He added that Strout wanted to be the one to drive because “she was independent and wasn’t going to let anyone drive her truck unless she was being kidnapped or in labor,” he says. “Especially because she knew she was going to be induced and it’d be a little while before she was able to drive on her own again.”
When Weston went to the hospital on Wednesday to visit Weeks, he told him about a GoFundMe page he had created for him, to help with medical bills and future expenses he’ll need for his children.
“He looked at the photo of Desiree for a while in silence and he teared up,” Weston says of Weeks’ reaction. “I think he’s realizing we’re not asking if we can help, we’re helping him whether he wants us to or not.”
Weston was also told that before the couple’s 8-year-old was discharged, she went to hold little Gage’s hand.
He added that the girl is handling everything “like a trooper.”