A mother who lost three sons in horror accidents has been left with devastating injuries after a hit-and-run driver plowed into her and her twin toddlers last month.
Mollie Egold was pushing her two-year-old sons Bradley and Noah in a stroller on a street near their home in Albion on July 11 when they were struck from behind.
Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene. Noah was life-flighted to Maine Medical Center in nearby Portland, where he died four days later.
Egold was left with a large piece of glass embedded in her back near the base of her spine, two broken hips, a broken leg and several broken bones in her hand, The Portland Press Herald reports.
She was forced to undergo several surgeries and spent nearly two months in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
Due to the severity of her injuries, she also had to be transported by an ambulance on a stretcher to attend Bradley and Noah’s funeral services.
Egold, who celebrates her 34th birthday tomorrow, is improving physically and now walking on her own. She is expected to be discharged and return home today.
However, her loved ones say she is still struggling with the crippling grief of losing her toddlers just eight years after her five-year-old son William drowned in a river.
Mollie Egold (pictured with one of her sons) was left with a large piece of glass embedded in her back near the base of her spine, two broken hips, a broken leg and several broken bones in her hand when a hit-and-run driver plowed into her and her toddlers last month
Egold’s two-year-old twin boys were killed in the hit and run collision on July 11. Bradley (left) was pronounced dead at the scene, while Noah (right) had serious head injuries that required hospital treatment. Days later, he was pronounced brain dead and taken off life support
The tragedy came just eight years after Egold witnessed her five-year-old son William (pictured) drown in a freak boating accident
William died in May 2017 while he and Egold were on a canoe trip in Vassalboro, roughly 18 miles from Albion.
They were canoeing along the Outlet Stream when the vessel capsized and the pair went over a waterfall.
Although they both had been wearing life jackets, William was trapped under the water by debris and drowned.
Egold managed to free the boy, but the current carried them over a second water and around a mill before she managed to get them out of the river, WGME reports.
William was life-flighted to a hospital in Bangor and passed away that night. Egold was treated for her injuries at another hospital.
Egold’s mother Martha Collins says the horror of losing three sons has been absolutely devastating on the 33-year-old and her only surviving child, six-year-old Connor.
‘This whole thing is just a brutal nightmare – it really is,’ Collins, 73, told the Herald. ‘Emotionally, the best I can say is, she is doing as well as can be expected.
‘She’s had emotional loss of the children plus the injuries, but she’s held up. Connor is really struggling. I don’t know how to describe it.’
Benjamin Lancaster, 44, (pictured) was arrested on July 14 and charged with manslaughter in connection to the horror crash that killed Bradley. A second manslaughter charge was added on July 17 after Noah died
Pictured: Lancaster’s Hyundai three miles before it crashed into Egold and her twin boys
Pictured: Lancaster’s Hyundai shortly after the collision, seen with clear damage to the right front end
Benjamin Lancaster, 44, was arrested on July 14 and charged with manslaughter in connection to the horror crash that killed Bradley.
A second manslaughter charge was added on July 17 after Noah died.
Lancaster has also been hit with felony charges of aggravated criminal operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death.
Investigators claim Lancaster struck the mother and her two children from behind and then left Egold and the boys lying stricken on the ground.
Court documents revealed that Lancaster tried to tell police that his girlfriend was actually the one driving. But security camera footage in police affidavits appear to disprove that.
A picture of the car about three miles before the crash shows the vehicle in pristine condition. Police saying he was the one in the driver’s seat at this time.
Another image shows the same car with a massive dent in the front end driving on Main Street in Albion. Police say he was still driving the car.
Mollie Egold is pictured with her son William, who died in May 2017
Egold is still struggling with the crippling grief of losing her children. Pictured are her sons Connor, Bradley and Noah
Egold was walking with the two boys to a store about 15 to 20 minutes away from their home when Lancaster allegedly struck them.
The family had done the trip several times before, but Collins notes this was the ‘one time she did not have Connor in the stroller’.
The six-year-old had wanted to go with his siblings, but Egold ‘told him no’ because it would have exceeded the stroller’s weight limit.
Egold’s surviving son Connor has been telling everyone he has ‘three brothers in heaven’. Pictured: William Egold
Collins recalled how Connor ‘came in to me crying because he wanted to go’ so she agreed to drive him down to the store.
She and Connor met up with Egold and the toddlers, reportedly teasing them about how they would beat them to the store.
Bradley wanted to get out of the wagon and switch with Connor, but changed his mind last minute, so Collins and the elder boy agreed to meet the trio at the store, the grieving grandmother recalled.
As she and Connor headed back from their shopping trip, they found Egold and the twins ‘spread across the lawn’.
‘It was shock, the last thing in the world we expected to see. It plays over and over in my head,’ Collins told the Portland Press Herald.
Good Samaritans were helping Egold, who was thrown into a mailbox due to the impact of the crash. Collins says she was conscious but in obvious pain.
A motorcyclist who stopped to help was performing CPR on Bradley as Collins ran to Noah, who was still breathing immediately after the crash despite two fractures in the back of his skull. She claims the toddler saw her and ‘followed me with his eyes’.
She remembers watching someone place a blanket over Bradley’s body, confirming her fears that he had died.
Noah was taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors determined him to be brain dead on July 13. He was taken off life support two days later after it was determined that he still had no brain activity.
Connor was cared for by neighbors while Collins stayed at the hospital with Noah. She says she stayed by his side until he took his final breath.
Egold’s mother Martha Collins (pictured with her grandsons Connor, Bradley and Noah) says the ‘whole thing is just a brutal nightmare’
Connor continues to have questions about the tragedy, with Collins sharing how lately the six-year-old has been telling everyone he has ‘three brothers in heaven’.
The family has also been preparing for Egold’s return and the long road to recovery she still faces.
Volunteers from the Central Church of Augusta and China have built a new porch and ramp on the family’s home.
The church is collecting donations to help with the family’s medical expenses and other related bills during this trying time.
Those looking to contribute can send a check to Albion Christian Church, P.O. Box 205, Albion, ME 04910. They should write ‘accident family’ on the check memo line.
