Illinois lawmakers helped avert disaster early Monday morning when they prevented a pregnant woman whose brakes failed from jumping into a bitterly cold lake.
Pregnant driver Jaelyn Mockabee called 911 around 2 a.m. Monday to report her brakes were failing. Mockabee declined to be interviewed by NBC News because she is emotionally shaken by the incident.
Mockabee told the 911 dispatcher that he could not slow down or turn off the car’s engine, according to a recording of the call. She was able to follow the dispatcher’s instructions and put the Chevrolet Malibu into neutral, slowing the vehicle slightly.
However, the car was still traveling downhill, Mockabee told dispatchers.
“I’m 20 weeks pregnant. I can’t die today,” Mockabee said when calling 911.
When deputies caught up with Mockabee, they noticed that the brake lights were on but the vehicle was not slowing down, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputy Tyler Coffey, who was at the scene, responded to the call and decided to run in front of Mockabee’s car and slam on the brakes with his own vehicle.
“I’m in front of her right now,” Coffey said in the video. “Yeah, she’s nearing that dead end.”
Mockabee’s car hit Coffey’s bumper and eventually came to a stop about 400 meters before Crab Orchard Lake. Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich said in a statement that if deputies had delayed responding, Mockabee “likely would have gone into the water.”
Coffey told NBC Chicago he was glad the woman was safe.
“I’m glad I was there and close to her so I could have stopped the car in time,” Coffey said.
Mockabee declined to be interviewed, but her mother, Carol Mockabee, told NBC News that her daughter was driving a car she shared with her boyfriend and was not familiar with the car. Her daughter was “scared to death” and worried about her baby.
“I think she was in a whirlwind of emotions at the time and didn’t really know what to do,” Carol Mockabee said.
Mockabee is overwhelmed by the attention the case has received, her mother said. Mockabee is already facing a high-risk pregnancy, so her family is trying to keep her “as calm as possible.”
Her mother is grateful that responding deputies were nearby and reacted quickly to the situation.
“It was an absolute miracle that they were there at that time,” she said.
