PIERCE COUNTY, WA (KOMO/CNN) – A pregnant woman in Washington state died after she was accidentally pinned underneath the family van, but doctors managed to deliver her infant son.
Shannon Macleod, 35, was at the beach with her children Monday afternoon. The family was getting ready to leave when police say one of the kids accidentally put the van in gear.
The van started rolling backwards and crushed the mother. She died on the way to the hospital.
“We never thought anything like this would ever happen because she's such a beautiful and amazing woman,” said Nathan Macleod, one of Shannon’s children.
Shannon Macleod was eight months pregnant, so doctors performed an emergency C-section and saved the little boy. The family named him Joseph, after his father.
The baby weighs only five pounds and is very fragile, the family says.
“He's very sick right now, so we don't know what's going to be the outcome,” said Cathy Macleod, Shannon’s mom.
None of the children in the van at the time of the incident were injured.
Macleod had six kids, ranging in age from 2 to 19. Joseph was her seventh.
"We're just trying to keep us all together, that's all. I know my mom would want that the most because family is so important to her. Family was the number one thing. No matter what, it was always family first,” Nathan Macleod said.
It was the second tragedy in recent months to befall the family, who lost everything in a fire in December, relatives say.
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