Baby Torn From Womb Survives Crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) â€” A baby survived being torn from the womb in a traffic accident that killed his mother and was recovering Wednesday at a hospital. <br><br>The baby â€” named Patrick, for the person

Wednesday, December 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) â€” A baby survived being torn from the womb in a traffic accident that killed his mother and was recovering Wednesday at a hospital.

The baby â€” named Patrick, for the person who found him after the wreck Tuesday in southern Kentucky â€” was found next to his mother's torn body with the umbilical cord still attached.

``For the way this baby came into the world, through the hardships this baby survived, it's a miracle baby,'' said Jeff Landers, an emergency medical technician. ``This child is going to be special.''

Patrick's mother, who was eight months pregnant, was thrown through the windshield of a tractor-trailer after his father, who was driving, lost control and hit an embankment, police said.

The parents' names were not immediately released.

The mother was caught under the truck and dragged a short distance.

When she was thrown loose from the truck, her head hit a culvert and she struck a sign, and her torso was severed, police said.

The baby's father suffered minor injuries.

Both father and son were taken to Russell County Hospital, where the father was able to hold his son's hand briefly, Landers said.

``You could just see it in his eyes, the happiness but also the sadness,'' Landers said of the father.

Patrick was upgraded from critical to fair condition Wednesday and was being transferred to a hospital in Louisville.