Pregnant driver hit from behind on I-5, flips upside down

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Arnoldo Prado and Darcy Tigueros are expecting a baby boy in about 2 months. Early Sunday morning, they were driving home from a family gathering when they were hit from behind on I-5 northbound near 134th.

“We just started flipping a lot of times. I counted more than 7 times,” Prado told KOIN 6 News. “Then everything got completely dark.”

They landed upside down near the side of the freeway. Darcy was driving, Arnoldo was in the front passenger seat and 2 others were in the back when they were hit by a driver who fled the scene.

“I heard my wife screaming, ‘My baby! My baby!’ and so that’s where I didn’t really know what to do,” he said.

They were able to get themselves out of the car and Arnoldo, 21, began waving at people.

“Some people didn’t see me because it was dark and then after that a lady stopped and she told me she was a nurse,” he said. She called 911 and the ambulance and paramedics arrived soon.

“I feel like she was an angel because if it wasn’t for her, I don’t know. We couldn’t find our phones. Yeah, she was an angel.”

All 4 people went to the hospital. Darcy, 19, was kept overnight for monitoring but was released Monday. Arnoldo said they’re doing pretty well.

“All the doctors and nurses, they said it’s a miracle that nothing happened to her, that she doesn’t have a scratch. Nothing. They just can’t believe that she’s perfectly fine and the baby is perfectly fine, too.”

But the driver who hit their green Honda Accord remains at large.

“It’s not fair,” Arnoldo said. “Just because someone who is maybe drunk or on drugs, we end up like this. And it could have been worse, especially with my wife that she is pregnant.”

Arnoldo Prado is at a loss for words on how it all turned out without anyone suffering any serious injuries, including their soon-to-be-born boy.

“I think it’s a miracle from God that everything is fine.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Washington State Patrol.