Abby's Ark Foundation Inc.

On the night of September 8, 1996 my daughter Rachel and her husband Robby were on the way to the hospital to give birth to their first child, a baby girl to be named Abby Danielle Reed. As the family was crossing the Highway 11 overpass, a drunk driver swerved into their lane hitting them head-on. Upon impact, my daughters head went through the windshield and her stomach hit the dashboard with such brute force the contact caused my daughter’s water to break, meaning her baby desperately needed to be delivered. The paramedics arrived and Rachel was rushed to Slidell Memorial Hospital. She was critically injured and had to be stabilized before she could be rushed to delivery. Abby had a heart beat until the elevator doors closed. By the time they stabilized my daughter, it was too late for my granddaughter. Abby was a perfect infant, she suffered no physical damage. What she did suffer was asphyxiation, meaning she slowly suffocated inside her mother. Since Abby's death it has been my goal to educate as many people as possible about the dangers of impaired driving. One man’s decision to drink and drive has forever changed the lives of my entire family. Abby may be gone but she is certainly not forgotten!