Hit-and-run victim delivers baby after husband dies in crash
HANFORD, California -- Christmas was a bittersweet day for Miranda Garza.
Hours before delivering her precious baby girl, she lost the newborn's father and the love of her life, husband Raymond Romero.
Even worse, it was the couple's anniversary.
Garza left the hospital Thursday night surrounded by nurses and family members, yet for the first time in 13 years, she has never felt so alone.
"I get so many emotional feelings because she looks just like him. He really wanted to meet her," said Garza.
In her arms is her greatest consolation through the numbing pain. Three hours before Eileen Rizzo Romero came into this world, her parents were driving back home to Hanford from a Christmas party when a car ran a red light and slammed into them.
"I turned around and I lifted my husband's head up, I gave him a kiss, I said, 'Please wake up,' his eyes were wide open, but he was just gone," said Garza.
Miranda says the crash knocked her out initially. While she lay unconscious, she dreamt of a voice telling her to live on. Witnesses later told her that was Raymond leaning into her ear.
"I thought it was my consciousness telling me to wake up. I just hope it was him and he knew that I did get up, and I am here for our kids and that we didn't leave them by themselves," Garza said.
Garza kept her word, delivering a healthy baby girl just hours after the crash.
Now, her focus is on taking care of her two sons, also injured in the crash and telling them their father is gone.
"I love him so much, that I can't imagine going a day without him. He will always be in my heart and always be in my memories," Garza said.
Christmas for the family will never have the same joyful ring. Garza says she does not have the time to decide what it will stand for. She has to focus on pushing through, for her newborn daughter, for her family, and for Raymond.
