A woman from California gave birth to twin boys just two hours after she survived a bus crash in New Mexico that left eight people dead, according to FOX 40.
Christy Westerdale was seven months pregnant when a semi-truck going in the opposite direction slammed into the Greyhound bus she and her family were traveling in on August 29. Westerdale was knocked unconscious during the devastating crash, and the father of her children, Joseph Chandler, rushed to get their 4-year-old daughter off the vehicle before returning to retrieve her.
“I thought she was dead and I was gonna get her body off the bus when she woke up in my arms,” Chandler, who was traveling from Oklahoma to California with the family, told the news station. “I was like, ‘Oh my God! Come on baby, we’re going to be okay, we’re going to get off this bus.’ ”
The moments following the impact felt as if the “whole world was ending,” Chandler explained, as he described the numerous passengers who were bleeding from their injuries.
“I got my whole family off the bus and it’s a miracle. I cannot believe it,” he said. “Everybody that was sitting in front of my family is dead.”
RELATED VIDEO: 14 Dead After Bus Carrying Junior Hockey Team Crashes in Canada
Westerdale woke up in an ambulance and doesn’t remember much outside of the agonizing wait to hear about the health of her twins.
“I was just praying, hoping they were okay,” Westerdale told KOB 4.
Doctors at a nearby hospital discovered that Westerdale had experienced a placental abruption that put the twins’ lives in jeopardy. She then underwent an emergency delivery that saved her boys, who are now recovering in the neonatal newborn intensive center at the University of New Mexico Hospital.
“I just thank God that my babies are OK,” Westerdale told FOX 40. “I just can’t believe they’re so strong through it all and everything.”
Westerdale suffered a broken leg, a shattered knee and a separated pelvis, according to the news station, and is expected to make a full recovery. But the family — from Central California — will be staying in Albuquerque for at least two months until the twins are healthy enough to make the trip home.
RELATED: At Least 7 Dead After Greyhound Bus and Semi Truck Collide in New Mexico
Family members started a GoFundMe page to help with the couple’s living expenses as the babies recover, which has raised more than $10,000.
“They have lost all their possessions,” a description on the donation page reads. “They have no money, clothes or a place to go as the babies will be in the hospital for at least 6 to 8 weeks.”
Westerdale told FOX 40 that she is looking forward to taking her sons home and moving forward with their lives after the traumatic ordeal.
“I’m hopeful to recover and see my babies recover,” Westerdale said. “Get through this all and put it behind us.”
Source: Read Full Article