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EXCLUSIVE: Mom who saved baby falling off bridge tells her story

Posted at 3:16 PM, Dec 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-29 23:40:31-05

On the morning on May 16, 2016, Jennifer Duncan and her son Daniel were involved in a fender bender over the 4th street bridge off I-35 in Waco.

She got out of her car with her 8-month-old son waiting for first responders to arrive.

While she was waiting, another approaching vehicle hit one of the cars that had pulled over. The car was sent right in Jennifer’s direction. Jennifer and Daniel were thrown from the bridge, falling 30 feet to the asphalt.

"My main concern was keeping him safe, making sure he was going to be okay and I didn’t know what to expect moment by moment," Jennifer said. "I just took like one second look and seeing that we were falling I just tried to grab as tight as I can to him."

Jennifer managed to make a human cocoon around her son to protect him from the impact of the fall. Daniel only had a scratch, but Jennifer suffered several severe injuries. She had to have their leg amputated, her pelvis was shattered, she broke nine bones in her back, fractured her legs, fractured her ribs, had spleen injuries and had several internal injuries, too.

In seven months, she had 14 surgeries. Jennifer spent two months in the hospital and one month in rehab. 

"[Rehab] was difficult. Learning to move again, learning to even get yourself dressed. Now I’m learning how to walk on the one leg and I’m anxious to walk with both and get back with him playing at the park," said Duncan. "But all in all it was very hard. Mainly because I would look at [Daniel] and be like I want to pick you up but I can't. So it’s a difficult process."

Jennifer said her son is the reason she never gave up.

"I don’t give up because I know he’s looking at me to be his role model and so I try not to give up," Jennifer said. "I just try to keep moving forward and living each day as if we’re still blessed the same way we were 7 months ago."

Now Jennifer needs a prosthetic leg.

"Getting to walk with him would be a good way to start off the new year."

Friends and family set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the prosthetic leg and the medical bills. For more information on how to donate, click here.

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