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‘Absolute miracle’: Victim’s mother speaks on daughter’s survival after deadly crash

By Lindsay Stone

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    GOSHEN, Ohio (WLWT) — We’re learning new details about a crash in Goshen Township that killed a teenage driver and seriously injured two people in another car.

WLWT spoke exclusively with the mother of one of the victims, who says her daughter is lucky to be alive.

“One minute you’re doing something and enjoying your Saturday evening, and then your whole life is just turned upside down,” said Virginia Sallee.

Sallee’s Saturday night was interrupted by an alert on her phone.

“Life 360 is an app that actually my daughter insisted we all be on,” Sallee said.

The app alerted Sallee that her daughter had been in a crash.

“She was always worried that somebody be in an accident and nobody would know,” Sallee said. “It turned out that she was the one in the accident. But because of Life 360, we were all notified.”

Sabrina Deitz and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Jacob Demaris, were struck head-on by another driver while traveling along state Route 28 in Goshen Township on Aug. 10.

Deitz broke her back and suffered extensive stomach lacerations. Demaris shattered his foot and had part of his intestines removed. But, thankfully, the two are expected to survive.

“It is absolute miracle,” Sallee said. “If they had not had their seatbelts on, neither one of them would have been here.”

Police say the other driver, a teenager, crossed the center line before striking Demaris’ car. The teen died at the scene.

“We prayed for that family,” Sallee said. “You know, we don’t, we don’t have any hatred or anything.”

While Sallee says the long road to recovery is just beginning, she’s grateful her daughter and her boyfriend are still here.

“What matters to me is that, that Sabrina and Jake are taken care of and that, you know, we praise God that, that we still have them,” Sallee said.

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