4/18/2008 HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) -- It would be easy to assume -- based on photos from the scene -- that there were no survivors in the collision between a tractor trailer and minivan Saturday morning. Sheet metal and other debris were scattered across Interstate 85 near Groometown Rd.
"I've been doing this 16 years. I've seen numerous wrecks and this, by far, is one of the worst ones," said Jerry Lee, the owner of the towing company that came to pick up the demolished minivan.
But there were two survivors; Two-year-old twins Jayden and Jada Brooks lived, in part, because they were strapped into their car seats.
The twins' mother, Hadiya Brooks, was killed, as were Hadiya's sister, Angelique Brooks Gibson, and mother, Diane Brooks.
A state trooper said Diane Brooks made an illegal U-turn across southbound I-85 and failed to see an oncoming 18-wheeler. Reports show Brooks' minivan was going about 10 miles per hour when the truck plow into it at 65 mph, sending the minivan off the embankment and onto Business 85 below.
"I really can't put into words, she was just ... she'd been my ... she'd been with me since the 10th grade of high school," said Darren Gibson, the husband of Angelique Brooks Gibson.
Darren Gibson's heart is heavy, but he's thankful his sister-in-law's twins were strapped in properly.
"Please, please put your kids in car seats," he pleaded. "Please, because without them, we wouldn't have two kids still alive."
Coincidentally, Darren Gibson is himself the father of 3-year-old twins.
The New York state Department of Transportation is sending members to North Carolina to investigate the crash and look at the car seats that saved the twins.
A funeral for the three women killed in the accident is scheduled for Thursday in Gastonia.
