Yor'i El is thankful his prematurely born child and the boy's mother are OK after a suspected impaired driver slammed into their pickup truck. Police say the woman went into labor after the impact.
The suspected DUI driver rear-ended their Chevy pickup along Haverford Avenue near Overbrook Avenue in Philadelphia’s Overbrook neighborhood around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, Philadelphia police said.
Surveillance video shows the sedan hit the slower-moving pickup.
"I don't know where he came from," El, who was driving the pickup, said hours after the wreck.
The force of the crash caused the Lexus sedan to flip over and caused El's 42-year-old girlfriend to go into premature labor, police said.
Medics helped to deliver the baby, who was just 25 weeks along, and rushed the baby, named Yor'i El Jr., and his mother to the hospital where the mother was listed in stable condition and junior was listed in critical condition while undergoing tests.
El wasn't even present for the birth as he remained on the scene answering questions from police. He said the couple was already heading to the hospital early Tuesday because his girlfriend wasn't feeling well.
El said he has some back pain but otherwise is OK. He thanked God that his newborn son and the boy's mother are expected to be OK.
"Just glad that the baby was alright," El said.
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The driver, identified by sources as Kevin Hunter, 55, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. He was arrested and charged with DUI, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Court records show Hunter had previous DUIs in 2006 and 2015.
El has already forgiven the other driver.
"We all make mistakes, I'm not one to point the finger... nobody's perfect," he said.
Police continued to investigate the crash Tuesday morning, closing the roadway for hours.
