CLINTON COUNTY, Ill. — An 18-year-old woman was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital after her vehicle crashed head-on into an ambulance Tuesday night in Breese.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened on Old U.S. Highway 50 near Breese Central Community High School.
According to evidence and eyewitnesses, police said it appeared the 18-year-old drifted from her lane and into the oncoming path of an ambulance with the Sugar Creek Ambulance Service.
Firefighters extricated the critically injured woman from her car and she was rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital; from there, she was taken by medical helicopter to St. Louis.
The driver’s family identified her as Maci McCabe, a Mater Dei student. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $23,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
The ambulance crew — a driver and passenger who had just finished a transport and were heading back to their base — were treated for minor injuries and released Wednesday morning. The ambulance’s lights and sirens were not on and no passengers were aboard at the time of the crash.
“It is believed the driver of the ambulance was abiding by all traffic laws, and did everything she did to avoid the crash,” Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous said in a news release.
Police were investigating what caused the other driver to drift from her land but said they did not believe it had anything to do with drugs, alcohol or cell phone use.
A prayer service is being held for McCabe at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese at 5 p.m. Thursday and another prayer gathering at Breese Community church is scheduled for 6.
Both Dairy King locations in Breese and Trenton will be donating 10% of sales from Feb. 17-23 to Maci’s care.
