A Michigan mom gave her life to save her twin sons when a speeding driver on a suspended license plowed into their car — using her body as a shield to protect them during the impact, her distraught mother said.
Hillarie Galazka, 29, was driving her 5-year-old boys back to their Lincoln Park home late Monday when a 25-year-old reckless driver rear-ended her Saturn Ion on an entrance ramp of Interstate 96 near Davison, WJBK reported.
“Her body saved them,” Galazka’s mother, Jodie Kelley, told the station. “The boys say they saw her open her eyes and look at them and then she closed her eyes, never opened them again. They remember that.”
Galazka — a mother of three, including an 8-year-old boy who wasn’t with her at the time — died from her injuries, but her twin boys survived with just minor injuries thanks to her quick thinking to block them from the brunt of the impact.
The deadly crash remains under investigation by Michigan State Police. The 25-year-old male driver who allegedly plowed into Galazka’s car was later located at a hospital. Investigators said he was speeding while driving on a suspended license and had two warrants for his arrest, WJBK reported.
“I am devastated,” Kelley told the station. “I cannot believe that this man wasn’t in prison for his entire life for all of his warrants. I can’t believe he was behind the wheel doing 90 miles per hour in an SUV.”
Kelley said her daughter was her best friend.
“She’s gone now,” the emotional mother told the station.
Galazka’s brother said his sister was well-liked by everyone who knew her.
“I’m just glad the babies survived a tragedy for the family,” Jacob Galazka said.
“Everyone loves those kids. Everyone loves Hillarie. She’s a good-hearted, strong, beautiful woman. She didn’t deserve this death.”
An online fundraiser set up by Kelley to offset her daughter’s funeral costs had eclipsed $15,000 as of Thursday.
“My daughter was tragically rear ended in a car accident and she passed away on scene,” the website reads.
Galazka died while protecting her boys as a “strong, loving” mother, Kelley wrote.
Prosecutors are now reviewing the crash to determine what charges the driver may face, WJBK reported.
