Baby swept up by tornado buried in Indiana
SALEM, Ind. -- A 15-month-old girl who clung to life for two days after being scooped up by a tornado that killed her parents and two siblings was buried yesterday in a snow-covered cemetery, a poignant end to what had seemed to be a miracle story of survival.
An American flag hung at half-staff as relatives of Angel Babcock gathered for the private burial. Angel, her mother and her 2-month-old sister were buried in one coffin. Her father and 2-year-old brother were in another.
The little girl died Sunday of severe head injuries at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky., after a tornado struck her family's home in New Pekin, Ind., and swept her into the field. Her death is one of 40 from the tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest and South on Friday.
The miracle survivor amid widespread devastation wrought by the storms, Angel captivated the world with her fight to live. Though found critically injured, she was opening her eyes when she arrived at the hospital in Kentucky, which workers said was a hopeful sign.
But her condition deteriorated Saturday as her brain swelled, chief nursing officer Cis Gruebbel said. As the day went on, Angel's eyes stopped moving, and there was no sign of brain activity. Her grandmother said the family decided to take her off life support, after hospital workers said there was nothing else they could do.
"I had my arm around her when she took her last breath," her grandmother, Kathy Babcock, told ABC News. "I sang to her 'Itsy-bitsy spider.' "
Angel's family had already been reeling from the loss of her other grandmother and great-uncle last year, and her death, along with her parents and siblings, was a fresh blow, said Natasha Brooks, of Salem.
"It's so much for one family," Brooks said after a memorial service at the Pentecostal church the Babcock family attended.
The family was buried in two coffins in the pauper section at Crown Hill Cemetery in Salem, Police Maj. Scott Ratts said.
At least two banks set up funds to benefit the Babcock family, and Ratts said contributions have come in from all over the country.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
