Deputies rescue pregnant driver who lost control of car
Deputies in Illinois this week saved a pregnant woman who called 911 for help after she lost control of the vehicle she was driving and was approaching a lake.
The heart-pounding early-morning rescue on Dec. 2 was caught on dash camera footage shared by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. Audio from the woman's 911 call was also released.
"I need help. My brakes won't stop. My car won't stop. My brakes aren't working," the woman tells the emergency services operator in the released audio.
"I'm 20 weeks pregnant. I cannot die today," she adds.
The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to the call and were able to catch up to the woman near Carterville, noting the brake lights on her car were activated but the car wasn't slowing down and had reached a speed of around 30 miles an hour.
The sheriff's office said the quick-thinking deputies decided to perform a "rolling road block" as the 911 operator instructed the woman to turn.
"You need to turn now," the operator tells the woman in the audio.
"I'm scared!" she replies. "I can't stop!"
"If you don't turn, you're going to go into a lake. We need you to turn, OK?" the operator says.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies passed the woman's car and positioned their car in front of her vehicle and slowed down until the woman's car "gently made contact with the rear bumper of the patrol vehicle."
"Once contact was made, the patrol vehicle utilized its brakes to bring both vehicles to a complete stop," the sheriff's office said in a statement shared on Facebook.
Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Coffey was one of the first deputies to arrive at the scene to assist the woman.
"Myself and two other deputies had jumped out and ran up to that vehicle to make sure that it was in park and that the driver was OK," Coffey told ABC News. "Getting that close to the lake and with the temperatures as cold as it was, that was my main concern, was safely getting it stopped to avoid her ending up in the lake."
The woman and the deputies were unharmed following the incident and Williamson County Sheriff's Office said their patrol vehicle only had "very minor damage" following the collision.
"I'm just very happy that myself and the other deputies were able to get that car stopped," Coffey said.
