Eight years after losing her young son in a canoeing accident, a Maine mother has once again endured devastating tragedy. This time, she survived a hit-and-run crash that killed her 2-year-old twin boys and left her facing a long and painful recovery.
Mollie Egold was pushing her twins in a stroller when they were struck by a vehicle on July 11, WGME reported. According to Maine State Police, one of the children, Bradley, died at the scene, while his brother, Noah, passed away later at the hospital.
The heartbreaking crash happened nearly a decade after Egold’s 5-year-old son, William, was killed when the canoe he was riding in went over a waterfall, WGME reported.
Now, after two months of hospitalization, Egold is preparing to return home, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Family friend Martha Collins, who lives with Egold and her surviving 6-year-old son, Connor Bordeaux, told the paper the family is still reeling.
“This whole thing is just a brutal nightmare,” Collins said.
Collins explained that Egold suffered multiple injuries, including broken hips, a broken leg, broken hands, and a shard of glass lodged in her spine. Despite her injuries, Egold has begun walking on her own.
“Emotionally, the best I can say is, she is doing as well as can be expected,” Collins told the Press Herald. “She’s endured the loss of her children alongside her physical injuries, but she has remained strong. Connor is really struggling. I don’t know how to describe it. We both ask, ‘How do you wrap your head around what happened?’”
Police say the driver who struck Egold and her children fled the scene.
Authorities later identified the suspect as 44-year-old Benjamin Lancaster, who was arrested and charged with operating under the influence causing death, operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, and leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.
He has not yet entered a plea.
