Connecticut Mom Pushes Daughter Out Of The Way, Is Struck And Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver


A Connecticut mom is being called a hero after she pushed her daughter out of the way of a vehicle, only to be struck and killed herself. The hit-and-run driver then fled the scene, and police are still looking for him or her.

As WTNH (New Haven) reports, 40-year-old Dania Cegeno-Delrosario was crossing a Meridian street Friday night when a vehicle came barreling towards them. Dania, who was holding her 7-year-old daughter’s hand, pushed the girl out of the way, according to neighbor David Badillo.

“She saved her daughter from being hit. She pushed her daughter out of the way and she got hit by the car.”

Cegeno-Delrosario was struck so hard that she was thrown from the scene and her body landed under a parked SUV a short distance away, suffering a severe head injury in the process. Badillo was one of the first people to find her.

“When I got over there she wasn’t moving, she wasn’t talking.”

Cegeno-Delrosario was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died of her injuries.

“She saved her daughter from being hit. She pushed her daughter out of the way and she got hit by the car.”

Badillo, who has seen his own share of tragedy lately, is mourning the fact that the 7-year-old girl, identified by CBS News as Denisse, is now without a mother.

“I just had two deaths in my family. On top of that it just helps you realize you’re not the only one going through bad times. A daughter lost her mother… Somebody should say something. There’s a daughter without a mother today, and it could have been the daughter, who was only 7 years old.”

Denisse was hospitalized with minor injuries and was later released. Speaking to Hartford CBS affiliate WFSB, Denisse said that her mom pushed her out of the way so that she (Denisse) wouldn’t get hurt.

Cegeno-Delrosario had come to Connecticut two years ago from the Dominican Republic, searching for a better life for herself and her daughter. The single mother worked two jobs — a travel agent by day, and a night job caring for the elderly — to make ends meet. Family and friends describe her as selfless and hard-working.

Dania’s family is now working on funeral plans for the single mother.

Meridien police, meanwhile, are not working on leads and sorting through the evidence in order to identify and apprehend the alleged hit-and-run driver. Sgt. Stanley Zajac of the Meriden Police Department says that debris left from the scene indicates that the vehicle may have been a Nissan.

“From a piece of the vehicle that was left at the scene we ran a part number and it came back to possibly a Nissan.”

Witnesses describe the vehicle as a dark-colored sedan, possibly red. Police are asking auto repair shops, or anyone else, to be on the lookout for a vehicle damage on the driver’s side bumper, hood, and door. It will also be missing a side-view mirror. Cops are also reviewing surveillance camera footage from a nearby business to see if they can catch a license plate number.

Police are hoping surveillance-camera footage can help them identify a hit-and-run driver. [Image by Vladimir Jotov/Shutterstock]

This is not the first time a mother has sacrificed her own life to save her child. As Woman’s Day reports, Nikki Bradshaw Carpenter did that very thing when a tornado struck her Mississippi home in 2010. The heroic mom threw mattresses on top of her children, then threw herself on top of the mattresses to add a further layer of protection. That decision saved her kids, but ultimately cost the brave mother her own life.

[Feature Image by cleanfotos/Shutterstock]

Share this article: Connecticut Mom Pushes Daughter Out Of The Way, Is Struck And Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver
More from Inquisitr