Pregnant Mom Dies in Freak Accident With Wheel Hub

A man who'd been preparing to welcome his fourth child is now grieving the loss of his wife and unborn son in a tragic accident in Illinois. Melinda Cullen, a 38-year-old mother of three days away from giving birth to her first son, died Tuesday when a 100-pound wheel hub flew off a semitrailer and into her windshield as she was driving home from work on Interstate 80 near Joliet, reports WLS. Her unborn son did not survive the accident, either. Cullen was due to deliver him in 10 days, per ABC 7.

The driver of the semitrailer, Antanas Sereiva, 59, was charged with a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act violation for "unsafe equipment" after a police investigation revealed the rim detached from the truck's rear axle. "If she would have been five minutes or 3 minutes, one way or the other, they would have missed it," Cullen's father-in-law tells WLS. But "she was just in that place at that time." Cullen leaves behind a husband, Dave Cullen, and three daughters, ages 8, 5, and 15 months, per People. (More Illinois stories.)