A Wilkes County kindergarten student and her mother were killed in a head-on collision yesterday morning as they were driving to school.
Brittney Dancy, 22, and her daughter, Makayla Birch, 5, were driving north on Dragway Road, headed for Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, about 7:40 a.m. when their car hydroplaned, crossed the centerline and hit a car driven by Sarah Huffman, 24, said Trooper Alan Hall of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Huffman, a nurse, was driving a 2005 Cadillac south toward her home on Dragway Road after working a shift at Wilkes Regional Medical Center, Hall said. She saw Dancy's 1992 Honda Accord coming toward her and pulled onto the shoulder of the road as far as she could, but the cars collided head-on, Hall said.
By the time the trooper arrived, Huffman had taken Makayla from the car, placed her on the lid of the trunk and was performing CPR. She continued until an ambulance arrived. Hall estimated that Huffman performed CPR on the girl for 15 minutes or more.
"She did everything she could to try to save the child, but she could not," he said.
Once emergency workers were with the mother and daughter, Huffman's husband took her to Wilkes Regional for treatment. Her injuries did not appear life threatening, Hall said.
Hall said that Dancy was driving at approximately the posted speed limit of 55 mph, but that that was too fast given that the road was wet and slick from rain and also because Dancy was going around a curve. Neither Dancy nor her daughter was wearing a seat belt, he said.
He said that Huffman did everything she could to avoid the collision. No charges will be filed.
mmitchell@wsjournal.com
336-667-5691
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