Firefighters worked in the pouring rain to get a woman and baby out of a Plymouth Acclaim on N.C. 127 around mid-day Monday.
The pair was critically injured in the car crash. The woman later died from her injuries at Frye Regional Medical Center.
Casey Lynn Campbell, 19, of Hickory, was driving on N.C. 127 south the Plymouth Acclaim at about 11 a.m. when her car began drifting over into the other lane, said Trooper Michael Hilton with the N.C. Highway Patrol. The car hit a concrete mixer truck head-on.
"The driver of the truck went as far as he could over onto the shoulder, but he couldn't avoid a collision," Hilton said.
He said he is unsure if Campbell had a medical condition or if there was another reason she drifted into the opposite lane. He said alcohol is not considered to be a factor. Campbell was not speeding and was wearing a seatbelt, he said.
"It was just sprinkling at the time of the accident, so we don't think the rain had something to do with it," Hilton said.
Nancy Lingerfelt was driving behind Campbell when the accident happened. She said it was scary to watch Campbell's car hit the concrete mixer.
"The other car in front of me wasn't speeding. It just slowly went into his lane. They struck head on," she said. "I saw the windshield come out and the glass break."
Firefighters cut the roof off Campbell's car to get her and the three-and-a-half month old baby out of the back seat. The baby was secured into a car seat.
Both were taken to Frye Regional Medical Center, Hilton said. The baby, Mary Christina Rose, was flown to Carolinas Medical Center where she is in critical condition, he said. The driver of the concrete mixer, Eric Carlson, 36, had scrapes from the wreck and was not taken to a hospital, Hilton said.
The wreck shut down part of N.C. 127 near Jacobs Fork Gallery for more than 90 minutes while emergency workers and the Highway Patrol worked at the wreck.
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