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Baby girl found in Indiana field after tornado
USA Today
She was found in a field near her southern Indiana home, the sole survivor of a tornado that ripped through her family's house Friday, killing her parents and two siblings.
Now, 14-month-old Angel Babcock clings to life in Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville. Her story has captured the nation's attention, even as her grandparents sort through the tragedy that threatens to wipe out a family.
Officials said Saturday that the toddler was taken to St. Vincent Salem Hospital before being transferred to Kosair, where she remained in critical condition. Her family confirmed her identity to The Courier-Journal on Saturday night.
"She is in extremely critical condition," Jack Brough, Angel's grandfather, said in an interview. "She's had a lot of injuries to her head. The doctors told us that the next 24-48 hours are very critical. I'm just asking everyone to pray for my granddaughter and for my family."
Earlier Saturday, officials acknowledged the deaths of the toddler's parents, Joseph Babcock, 21; and Moriah Brough, 20; and her siblings, Jaydon Babcock, 2, and Kendall Babcock, 2 months.
They were the only four victims from Washington County, Ind., who died in the storm, said Rondale Brishaber, the county coroner.
Angel's extended family has been with her at Kosair, said Cis Gruebbel, vice president of patient care services.
The tragic circumstances surrounding the Babcock family are still painfully fresh for their next-door neighbors, Marcia and Beverly Lanham, who said Joseph Babcock worked in a nearby sawmill owned by Marcia's ex-husband and son.
Beverly Lanham said her boyfriend, Jason Miller, told her that he saw Angel's parents and her siblings lying face down in a hallway in their mobile home, holding hands and praying as the tornado approached.
She said Miller rushed outside to offer them a place in his bigger double-wide mobile home. But the twister picked up Miller and threw him and the Babcock family near Old Pekin Road.
Miller, 31, survived, with several broken bones and was in stable condition Saturday at University Hospital in Louisville.
"He's a hero," said Lanham's mother, Marcia Lanham, who sobbed Saturday as she helped her daughter sift through the rubble of the home she shared with her boyfriend. "He went next door to bring them over, and they all got killed."
Brough said he had gotten off from work Friday afternoon and was headed with his 18-year-old daughter, Kendra, to go shopping in Salem when Moriah called and asked if she and her youngest child, Kendall, could go with them.
"We took off towards Moriah's house to get them, and then the tornado siren went off," Jack Brough said. "… I told Kendra to call Moriah and tell her to take the kids and get out of their trailer, and she said they were going to go to the house next door."
Brough and he and his daughter went back home to wait out the storm, then about an hour later drove to downtown New Pekin, where he learned people had been seriously injured by the storms near Moriah's house.
"We got in the car and started driving and as we got closer and closer, the whole area was flattened," he said. "I kept saying, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' I was breathing so hard. I couldn't see my daughter's trailer for nothing. It was gone."
Jack Brough said people who had gathered around the field told him there was a little boy lying in the field. Around the same time, "someone else was carrying the baby up the road," he said.
He later learned that the little boy and baby were his grandchildren and that they had died. He went to St. Vincent's Hospital in Salem to identify them and also learned that his daughter and her boyfriend were dead.
"They wanted me to identify Moriah and Joe, but I just couldn't do it," he said.
He eventually learned that Angel was at Kosair.
Jack Brough said Moriah "loved being a mother."
"She was always happy and loved life," he said. "She went to church every week. But her entire life was about Joe and her children. She loved her kids; she was always with them."
Kendra Brough has spent the past two days at Kosair, near Angel's bedside. She said Saturday night she wasn't ready to talk about what had happened to her family.
Both Jack Brough and Kendra Brough said they appreciate the prayers and support of those who have been praying for them, including the donations they've received to help pay for medical and funeral expenses.
But Jack Brough said he can't believe such a large part of his family is gone.
"I just had them all yesterday (Friday) and now they are gone," he said.
USA Today
She was found in a field near her southern Indiana home, the sole survivor of a tornado that ripped through her family's house Friday, killing her parents and two siblings.
Now, 14-month-old Angel Babcock clings to life in Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville. Her story has captured the nation's attention, even as her grandparents sort through the tragedy that threatens to wipe out a family.
Officials said Saturday that the toddler was taken to St. Vincent Salem Hospital before being transferred to Kosair, where she remained in critical condition. Her family confirmed her identity to The Courier-Journal on Saturday night.
"She is in extremely critical condition," Jack Brough, Angel's grandfather, said in an interview. "She's had a lot of injuries to her head. The doctors told us that the next 24-48 hours are very critical. I'm just asking everyone to pray for my granddaughter and for my family."
Earlier Saturday, officials acknowledged the deaths of the toddler's parents, Joseph Babcock, 21; and Moriah Brough, 20; and her siblings, Jaydon Babcock, 2, and Kendall Babcock, 2 months.
They were the only four victims from Washington County, Ind., who died in the storm, said Rondale Brishaber, the county coroner.
Angel's extended family has been with her at Kosair, said Cis Gruebbel, vice president of patient care services.
The tragic circumstances surrounding the Babcock family are still painfully fresh for their next-door neighbors, Marcia and Beverly Lanham, who said Joseph Babcock worked in a nearby sawmill owned by Marcia's ex-husband and son.
Beverly Lanham said her boyfriend, Jason Miller, told her that he saw Angel's parents and her siblings lying face down in a hallway in their mobile home, holding hands and praying as the tornado approached.
She said Miller rushed outside to offer them a place in his bigger double-wide mobile home. But the twister picked up Miller and threw him and the Babcock family near Old Pekin Road.
Miller, 31, survived, with several broken bones and was in stable condition Saturday at University Hospital in Louisville.
"He's a hero," said Lanham's mother, Marcia Lanham, who sobbed Saturday as she helped her daughter sift through the rubble of the home she shared with her boyfriend. "He went next door to bring them over, and they all got killed."
Brough said he had gotten off from work Friday afternoon and was headed with his 18-year-old daughter, Kendra, to go shopping in Salem when Moriah called and asked if she and her youngest child, Kendall, could go with them.
"We took off towards Moriah's house to get them, and then the tornado siren went off," Jack Brough said. "… I told Kendra to call Moriah and tell her to take the kids and get out of their trailer, and she said they were going to go to the house next door."
Brough and he and his daughter went back home to wait out the storm, then about an hour later drove to downtown New Pekin, where he learned people had been seriously injured by the storms near Moriah's house.
"We got in the car and started driving and as we got closer and closer, the whole area was flattened," he said. "I kept saying, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' I was breathing so hard. I couldn't see my daughter's trailer for nothing. It was gone."
Jack Brough said people who had gathered around the field told him there was a little boy lying in the field. Around the same time, "someone else was carrying the baby up the road," he said.
He later learned that the little boy and baby were his grandchildren and that they had died. He went to St. Vincent's Hospital in Salem to identify them and also learned that his daughter and her boyfriend were dead.
"They wanted me to identify Moriah and Joe, but I just couldn't do it," he said.
He eventually learned that Angel was at Kosair.
Jack Brough said Moriah "loved being a mother."
"She was always happy and loved life," he said. "She went to church every week. But her entire life was about Joe and her children. She loved her kids; she was always with them."
Kendra Brough has spent the past two days at Kosair, near Angel's bedside. She said Saturday night she wasn't ready to talk about what had happened to her family.
Both Jack Brough and Kendra Brough said they appreciate the prayers and support of those who have been praying for them, including the donations they've received to help pay for medical and funeral expenses.
But Jack Brough said he can't believe such a large part of his family is gone.
"I just had them all yesterday (Friday) and now they are gone," he said.
