San Jose Woman Honored for Delivering Baby from Dying Mother

A San Jose woman was honored Wednesday for delivering a baby from a dying mother in the chaos following a car crash on a remote Texas highway.

Iria Wolnick said she is humbled by the experience -- one that law enforcement officials are calling "extremely heroic."

In the early morning hours of last July 5, Wolnick was driving with family in Texas and headed to her mother's funeral on a remote stretch of Highway 77.

"We saw this accident happen and we stopped to assist because the car was on fire," Wolnick said.

Authorities said an SUV went off the road, crashed into a tree and then rolled over. The collision forced a father, a pregnant woman and their toddler to be ejected.

"She kept asking for her baby, whom I thought she was referring to her toddler," Wolnick said. "But it was actually her unborn child. She was almost due."

The pregnant woman suffered a laceration to her abdomen from the accident.

"The baby's head was protruding out of her abdomen along with one of her little arms," Wolnick said.

Wolnick was able to deliver the baby with only light coming from a few cell phones.

"It was a shock. You do what you can with what you have," she said.

The baby survived, but the mother was unable to overcome her injuries. The 2-year-old girl and the children's father suffered minor injuries.

"I just hope that they are doing well and that God keeps blessing them cause that baby was a miracle. And she's going to continue blessing them in their life and someday, hopefully, their pain is not so deep that maybe I can visit the baby and get in touch with them," Wolnick said.

Wolnick on Wednesday was honored with a plaque that Texas law enforcement hand delivered.

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