‘It’s a miracle’: Expectant mother survives tornado flipping her car on highway

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) - An expectant mother in South Carolina says she is lucky to be alive after a tornado swept her car several feet in the air.

Malaijha Smoke, 21, told WCSC that it happened in a matter of seconds.

“All I know is my car was lifted into the air, and I was literally facing the ground - as if you were to go down a roller coaster,” she said.

Smoke was on her way home following her usual route. She was out early from work because of the storms in the area when a tornado hit the highway she was on in Goose Creek.

“My first thought was ‘Oh my God.’ And I thought, my baby,” Smoke said.

The 21-year-old expectant mother was taken to the hospital following the wreck.

“Like, what if we didn’t make it? I automatically assumed the worst,” she said.

Luckily, the medical staff gave her and her unborn baby an all-clear.

“It was the most life-changing thing to know that I walked out of that, and my baby was OK,” she said. “It was instant relief.”

Despite extensive damage to the car, Smoke said she is mostly just feeling some soreness after the ordeal.

“I had like a small piece of glass in my nose I didn’t even know was in there. I have a scratch on my hand,” Smoke said. “I was just lucky I guess.”

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado traveled about 158 feet at 75 mph.

“I didn’t feel like the luckiest person before, but now I definitely feel lucky,” Smoke said. “I’m just grateful, it was a miracle. Someone was looking over me.”

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