The pain in Mollie Egold’s life has come in waves so cruel they seem almost unimaginable. In 2017, she lost her first son, William, in a canoeing accident. Eight years later, as if fate had not already taken enough, her 2-year-old twins, Bradley and Noah, were struck and killed by a car while she pushed them in a stroller along a Maine roadway.

Mollie survived the crash — barely — with broken bones and a spine injury that left her hospitalized for two months. Now, as she returns home to her surviving child, 6-year-old Connor Bordeaux, she must learn to walk again, rebuild her strength, and live with a grief that is impossible to measure.

“This whole thing is just a brutal nightmare,” said Martha Collins, a family friend who lives with Mollie and Connor. “How do you wrap your head around what happened?”

A Stroller Struck

On July 11, 2025, Mollie was walking near her home in Maine, her toddler twins tucked into their stroller, when a car slammed into them. Bradley died at the scene. Noah was rushed to the hospital, where doctors tried desperately to save him — but by day’s end, he too was gone.

Police allege that the driver, Benjamin Lancaster, 44, fled the scene. He was later arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including operating under the influence causing death, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, and operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury. Lancaster has not yet entered a plea.

For the Egold family, the charges bring little comfort. The absence of two bright, playful toddlers has left their home hollow and silent.

Loss Upon Loss

The stroller tragedy was not the first time Mollie buried a child. In 2017, her son William, then just 5, died after the canoe he was in with family members went over a waterfall. The accident devastated her but, in time, she built a new life with her surviving son Connor and the twins who were later born.

The arrival of Bradley and Noah had brought fresh joy into the household. The boys were lively, inseparable, and adored by Connor, who reveled in his role as big brother. Now, at just six years old, Connor is grappling with a trauma that adults struggle to process.

“Connor is really struggling,” Collins said. “He’s lost both his little brothers in an instant. It’s hard to even explain what that does to a child.”

Mollie’s Injuries

Mollie herself was left with devastating physical injuries. According to Collins, she suffered two broken hips, a broken leg, broken hands, and a shard of glass embedded in her spine. After weeks of surgeries, pain management, and rehabilitation, she is only now beginning to walk again.

“Emotionally, the best I can say is, she is doing as well as can be expected,” Collins said. “She’s had the emotional loss of her children plus the injuries, but she’s held up.”

Even as she takes her first steps back home, the weight of her grief remains crushing. Friends say Mollie spends her days alternating between physical therapy and quiet moments of mourning.

Community Support

The tragedy has shaken the Maine community where Mollie lives. Neighbors, friends, and strangers have rallied with vigils, fundraisers, and meals delivered to the family’s door. A GoFundMe page set up for medical expenses and funeral costs has drawn donations from across the country, many from people moved simply by the unbearable scale of her loss.

“It’s hard to imagine how anyone recovers from something like this,” said one donor who never met the family. “All we can do is show her she’s not alone.”

A Courtroom Ahead

Lancaster’s case is moving slowly through the court system. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. But for Mollie and Connor, no sentence will restore what was stolen.

The family’s focus now is survival: getting through each day, piecing together routines, and finding small moments of strength.

“How Do You Survive This?”

The question hangs heavy in every conversation with those close to Mollie: how does a mother live after losing three sons in two separate tragedies?

“She’s stronger than she realizes,” Collins said. “But no one should ever have to be that strong.”

For now, Mollie Egold faces a long recovery — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Her nights are haunted by memories of a canoe slipping over a waterfall and of a stroller struck on a quiet summer walk.

She holds on, though, for Connor — the little boy who still needs his mother, and who reminds her daily that even in devastation, life demands the courage to continue.