Pregnant woman, 33, hits alligator on Texas Highway, killing her and her unborn child
Pregnant woman, 33, hits alligator on Texas Highway, killing her and her unborn child
- Gabrielle Breaux, 33, of New Iberia, Louisiana, was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup across Texas around 4 a.m. Sunday with her father and three children
- She hit a 12-foot alligator while on her way to Houston, 60 miles north of Corpus Christi
- The pickup truck overturned, killing Breaux and her unborn child: her father and three children were injured but expected to survive
A pregnant Louisiana woman was killed and her family injured after the pickup she was riding in hit a 10-foot-tall alligator and flipped over multiple times in rural Texas.
Gabrielle Breaux, 33, was returning from Texas to her home in New Iberia, Louisiana, 20 miles south of Lafayette, when the accident happened in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The car wash was seven months pregnant and accompanied by her father Gregory Gerard, 58, and her three children, ages 13, 11 and six.
Breaux was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup just before 4 a.m. 60 miles north of Corpus Christi near the small village of Tivoli when her pickup hit the alligator on the road.
She and her unborn child died as a result of the wreckage.
Gabrielle Breaux, a 33-year-old car wash and mother of three, was seven months pregnant when she was killed on Sunday
The animal lies on the road in a photo taken by Refugio County sheriffs
Breaux’s Chevy Silverado hit an alligator and spun off the road and flipped over
Sergeant Rob Mallory of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the frail “hit an alligator crossing the road.”
The animal was killed and the truck went off the road, rolled over and came to rest upside down.
All five occupants of the pickup were taken to hospital.
Breaux was taken to DeTar Hospital in Victoria, 40 miles from the scene of the accident, where she succumbed to her injuries and died.
The hospital staff tried to save her unborn child, but were unsuccessful.
The 10-foot-long alligator, wearing a baseball cap for a shell, was killed when it was hit by the truck
Emergency services were seen at the scene of the accident in rural Texas in the early hours of Sunday
There were five people in the vehicle, with Breaux at the wheel. The other four passengers – her father and her three children – are expected to survive
Breaux is pictured with her three children, all of whom survived the crash
Rena Hebert, Breaux’s mother, confirmed the sad news and promised to take care of the three children.
“My daughter Gabrielle Breaux was on her way back from Texas with her dad and her 3 kids and hit a huge alligator on the road that flipped the truck over multiple times,” she wrote on Facebook.
“My beautiful Gabbi and her baby didn’t make it.
“Her other children suffered non-life-threatening injuries but have severe cuts and stitches and swelling.”
She added, “RIP my beautiful Gabbi.
“Mom loves you and I will take good care of your babies and my grandchildren.”
Jared Lewis, a game warden in Victoria County, told me Victoria lawyer that alligator sightings can happen on roads because the animal is looking for a body of water.
Lewis, who has experience catching and moving alligators found on roads, said the game warden or sheriff’s office should be contacted when an alligator is found.