Illinois Mother Dies In House Fire After Safely Tossing Newborn From Window

The residents of a close-knit town in Wyoming, Illinois, are experiencing a combination of heartache and happiness. In her last few moments of life, a heroic mother did the one thing any good mother knows how to do best: protect her child.

Per the Washington Post, there is no way to be sure exactly how much time passed after 21-year-old mother Shelby Carter realized her Illinois home was going up in flames. In the Illinois mother’s final moments, she made the decision to strap her newborn – who was just 12-days-old – into her car seat and toss the baby from the second-story window to safety.

Illinois mom dies in house bfire after saving her newborn: Shelby Carter, 21, managed to… https://t.co/pUf8gI7tdF

— okolie marvellous (@marvellous997) February 2, 2017

Investigators believe the Illinois mother had somewhere between a few seconds to a minute or two at the most to arrive at her decision to toss her newborn from the second-story window.

The Washington Post describes what was likely the Illinois mother’s last decision as “gut-wrenching and heroic.” Investigators believe it was the 21-year-old mother’s quick thinking that allowed her to save the life of her newborn just before a wall of smoke and fire engulfed the upstairs bedroom of the home they lived in.

“It’s just incredible that she was able to pull her thoughts together to save her baby,” Wyoming-Speer Fire Protection District Chief Ed Foglesonger said.

“It’s just too bad she couldn’t save herself, but I’d say it’s nothing short of a miracle the way it ended up.”

When fire and rescue made their way into the Illinois home, they found the body of Shelby Carter in the bedroom. An autopsy confirmed Shelby passed away from carbon monoxide intoxication. Investigators believe this was likely caused by the smoke inhalation after she smashed the bedroom window to save her baby.

Fire and rescue discovered the newborn infant, Keana Davis, in her car seat. The car seat was sitting on top of a pile of debris. What everyone is describing as miraculous is the fact that the infant only suffered from a minor burn and had no serious injuries. The Illinois newborn was taken to the hospital, where she was late released in excellent condition.

“The good news is, the baby got home and is doing great,” Stark County Sheriff Steve Sloan noted to the Peoria Journal Star a day after the fire engulfed the Illinois home.

While the cause of the house fire is still being investigated, no one believes anything suspicious took place.

The Peoria Journal Star reports the death of this Illinois mother has “dealt a painful blow” to the residents living in this small town in Wyoming, Illinois. The small town, which is located roughly three hours southwest of Chicago, is home to 1,400 people. The fire at Shelby Carter’s home was the first fatal fire to take place in three decades in Stark County.

There has been a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Shelby’s daughter and mother. In two days, the page has raised more than $5,500. The close-knit town has rallied around the family during their time of mourning. For the most part, everyone has found some sense of comfort in the fact that the heroic Illinois mother’s final act was to save her baby’s life. On social media, family members and friends are honoring the young mother as a hero.

According to the young mother’s cousin, Shelby had just turned 21-years-old a day earlier and had posted on Facebook about how “great” her birthday was. Shelby’s mother shared a photo of the infant at the hospital with a caption “Beautiful Miracle.” The Illinois mother’s aunt noted Shelby was a “fantastic mother.”

“Words cannot describe what has happened within our community today. We have experienced a feeling that no department wants to go through. Words cannot express the way we truly feel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family involved.”

Those close to the Illinois mother claim they are not too surprised to learn she died protecting her child as she had always been extremely protective of children.

SO awful. https://t.co/gegGXhDquh

— Sheba the Dog (@Sheba_the_Diva) January 31, 2017

Please share your thoughts on this heroic mother’s final act to save her newborn in the comment’s section found down below.

[Featured Image by Jackan/ShutterStock]