JACKSON COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A tragic car crash ended with one woman in critical condition, where she also lost a friend and her beloved dog went missing.
According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, on Dec. 12, a vehicle crash occurred on Smoky Mountain Expressway in Jackson County when the driver, Teresa Fee, failed to yield, turning in front of another vehicle.
Gina Oakley and her chihuahua, Lucy, were also in the car.
Sadly, Fee died at Mission Hospital two days later.
On Wednesday, Dec. 20, News 13 spoke with Hannah Oakley, Gina’s daughter, who said she had just put her kids to bed when she got the phone call that night about the crash.
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“Nobody knew what was going on. It took days, honestly, to get any answers,” Hannah said. “We just knew she was in the ICU. She still is.”
She said Gina Oakley is in stable but critical condition — and in addition to Gina losing her best friend, Teresa, Hannah said that her mom’s canine companion of 10 years, her dog, Lucy, is now missing.
“I got her a chihuahua puppy and her name was Lucy,” Hannah said. “(Gina) bottle-fed her ’cause she lost her mama. You know, she loves Lucy; that is her baby.”
Hannah explained that her mom did not go anywhere without Lucy, which is why she was with her in the crash.
Hannah said Lucy was seen walking around the vehicle after the accident but that she then ran across Barkers Creek Bridge and hasn’t been seen since.
They’ve been doing everything they can to bring Lucy home, Hannah said, but they need the community’s help.
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“It’s just awful. All this right here and I keep forgetting that it’s even Christmas time,” Hannah said. “Like, we’re just a few days away, and we’re in an ICU room trying to even make sure that she makes it through the night.”
She said her mom, Gina, is the type of person to give anyone the shirt off her back and that they’re all just holding onto hope.
“There’s nothing worse than sitting in a hospital room without hope,” Hannah said. “If you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything.”
She added that she could not imagine her mom waking up and having to tell her that Lucy was gone.
“Your vehicle’s gone, your body is broken from head to toe, literally, and your best friend’s gone — and now Lucy,” she said.
Hannah said she feels the least she could do to cushion the blow of the terrible news to her mother would be to bring Lucy home.
Hannah said they’re also missing a stuffed bear that she said she knows is a longshot, but is hopeful that someone at Mission Hospital will have seen it.
She explained how she lost her son a few years back and that her mom, Gina, has since held onto this white stuffed bear to remind her of her grandson. She asked anyone who happens to come across the bear in the hospital, to please return it to the Oakley family.
Anyone who might have spotted Lucy is asked to please reach out to the family, as they are desperate to get her back.
Hannah can be reached by calling 704-438-1043, or she can be reached by Facebook Messenger HERE.
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