The Indiana baby who initially survived a vicious tornado that wiped out the rest of her family died this afternoon, a relative said.
Family members and friends told The Post 14-month-old Angel Babcock, who suffered serious head and other injuries, was taken off life support. Her death was a tragic ending to a story of hope that captivated the nation wracked by the deadly twisters that killed dozens in the Midwest.
“The baby died,” a devastated friend told The Post just before 4:30 p.m.
The family had expected the worst. Little Angel had been on life support at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky., since being rescued from a field near her family’s decimated New Pekin, Ind., mobile home Friday. Angel’s mom, Moriah Brough, her dad, Joe Babcock, and siblings Jaydon and Kendall were all killed when the twister tore through their town.
“She’s not going to make it,” Jayla Brough, the aunt of little Angela Babcock, told The Post earlier today, before the family was forced to make its heartbreaking decision. “Angel cannot breathe on her own. They had to remove part of her skull because of the swelling.”
Angel’s grandfather, Jack Brough, was left to make the gut-wrenching decision to take the child off life support, Jayla said. Family members and friends were keeping a vigil at the hospital.
Officials had originally reported that Angel was found 10 miles away in Salem, Indiana, but a spokeswoman for the St. Vincent Salem Hospital where she was initially taken said Sunday that she was found close to her home.
On Sunday, extended family members kept a vigil at the girls’ bedside at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, where Angel had been in critical condition since she was airlifted there on Friday evening.
Angel’s family were the only four people killed in Washington County, one of the hardest hit areas, Indiana officials said.
with Post Wire Services