Three-year-old Baby Mallory was injured in a suspected DUI crash that mangled the vehicle above. This child was in a car seat behind the driver's seat. COURTESY PHOTO
Three-year-old Baby Mallory was injured in a suspected DUI crash that mangled the vehicle above. This child was in a car seat behind the driver's seat. COURTESY PHOTO
The child whose life was made possible due to an organ donation by the late Mallory Rae Dies suffered two broken legs and bruised lungs in a suspected DUI crash earlier this month in Thousand Palms.
The crash occurred June 3. Baby Mallory’s mother, Michalina Ward, 31, suffered a broken femur in the crash and an occupant in the other vehicle was also severely injured, said Matt Dies, whose group Vow4Mal shared photos of the incident in a Facebook post earlier this month.
The Vow4Mal Foundation is a nonprofit group that focuses on education and prevention of drunk driving. It was formed after Mallory Dies, then 27, suffered severe injuries and was placed on life support after she was struck by a drunk driver on Anacapa Street in December 2013. She later died, but not before donating her organs to help save six lives, including her liver that saved Beau Ward’s life. Mr. Ward died in March 2018, but not before he and his wife welcomed a child in 2016 who was named Mallory as a tribute.
Photos from the crash show the mangled white four-door vehicle sustained major damage. The rear driver side, where Baby Mallory, now 3, was sitting in a car seat was crushed.
“It’s a miracle that she’s alive,” Mr. Dies told the News-Press during a recent phone interview. “I almost feel like drunk drivers are hunting us. That’s really an emotional reaction, but when do our families get a break?”
Mr. Dies recalled getting a text message describing what happened in the crash and said he was in total disbelief.
“My heart just ripped out when I saw that text,” he said. “The fortunate upside is that after time everyone will be okay. Honestly we’re just so thankful that nobody else was taken from us.”
Baby Mallory has casts on both of her legs and has a long road to recovery.
“She’s got our Mallory’s fighting spirit,” Mr. Dies said, adding that the girl thinks her wheelchair is a spaceship.
Ms. Ward was traveling with two of her other children, 14 and one, who were not injured. The driver of the other vehicle also was not injured, Mr. Dies said.
