Wonderful and heartfelt thanks from the family. Take a moment to click on the link for the Star-Telegram story to see ‘behind the scenes’ video interviews and comments.
CBS 11 also covered the story, and their video can be viewed here.
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Paramedics who helped pregnant woman before her death receive thanks from grateful family
BY MITCH MITCHELL
April 3, 2019
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article228731714.html
FORT WORTH – One lives, two die.
Sherita Wells, the mother of a pregnant teen who died March 28 after a car wreck, visited the paramedics who saved her daughter and her unborn granddaughter from an approaching fire a week ago.
Hours after the rescue, the paramedics were told that both the teen, Jade Gilliam, and her unborn child, who the family named Brielle, did not survive their injuries.
More than a dozen friends and family marched into MedStar headquarters bearing gifts and heartfelt thanks on Wednesday, knowing that while they were not successful, the paramedics risked all to save the lives of their loved ones.
“I know you guys did the best that you could,” Wells said.
Medical professionals saved four lives using Gilliam’s organs, Wells told the small crowd. The car’s two occupants were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital. The driver, 19-year-old Bobby Warner, who was the baby’s father, is recovering and is listed in stable condition.
Wells’ daughter, Gilliam, 19, was sitting in the passenger seat of a small sedan she had recently purchased when it collided with a Dodge pickup about 9:30 p.m. March 27, Wells said.
The sedan was eastbound on Interstate 20 traveling toward the Interstate 35W entrance ramp when the sedan’s driver made an unsafe lane change, crossed the solid white line of the Interstate 35W entrance ramp and collided with a pickup, according to police.
Baby girl Gilliam was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m. March 27, while Jade Gilliam, of Fort Worth, was pronounced dead about 10:25 p.m. the next day, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.
Autopsy results on Gilliam and her unborn child are pending, an official with the medical examiner’s office said.
The paramedics received assistance from at least two passing drivers who helped free Gilliam and Warner from the sedan.
“It seems to me they had to make several life-and-death decisions within a matter of seconds,” Wells said. “I just want to thank them for their efforts.”
Friends said Jade Gilliam was outspoken, friendly and always loving. She was an example of what every mother wants from their daughter and a good role model for her four younger siblings, Wells said.
The paramedics seemed touched by the family’s gesture.
“It’s emotional,” said Ryan Bader, one of the paramedics.
Bader focused on extinguishing a fire that approached the car while the other paramedic, Miguel Brito, helped pull Gilliam and Warner from the sedan.
Gilliam’s legs were trapped under the dashboard and a passer-by helped Brito pull her from the car.
“It gives us closure to know that the family’s at peace,” Bader said. “It feels good that she was an organ donor and it helped other people. It was tragedy, but some good did come from it.”
