LIFESITENEWS REPORT – A heroic split-second decision by a young husband and father in the moments before a severe car accident that ultimately took his life has made headlines across the continent.
Brian and Erin Wood were driving across Washington State to visit relatives Friday when a car, later found to contain drugs, swerved suddenly into oncoming traffic in front of the couple's car. Erin maintains that her husband made the quick decision to serve the car to the right as he braked, thereby ensuring that he took the brunt of the impact, while saving her life and the life of her unborn child, the couple's first. A week after the crash, Erin says she is doing well physically and that the baby appears not to have suffered significant trauma.
"His first thought was for that baby and his wife, so I'm sure he did it without consciously realizing it," said Brian's mother Janice Wood.
An ABC TODAY show headline celebrated Woods' sacrifice for both his wife and his child in the womb, and featured an interview with Erin, who said that the sacrifice of her husband of 4 years was "not a surprise at all" to those who knew him.
"He was very excited for this baby, and always just incredibly loving towards me and putting me first, and just an amazing guy," she said. "I'm just glad that he's being remembered as someone who was willing to make that sacrifice."
The young mother also said she took comfort in taking care of her baby in the weeks leading up to her November 5 due date.
“It gives me some comfort just to focus on [the baby] and to focus on the joy that we’ll have once this baby is born,” she said on TODAY. “I’m just trying to draw a lot of strength right now knowing that [Brian] made that choice to save me and the baby, so I can’t waste that gift — and he wouldn’t want me to.”
"I'm trying to focus on what I need to do right now, which is eat and sleep and take my vitamins, and just do my job as a mom," she said.
“I really would give anything just to see Brian and hug him one more time,” she added, saying that she hopes people will learn from her husband’s sacrifice. “So if that just acts as a reminder to everyone to do that with people that they’re blessed to have in their lives, that’s my hope.”
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