Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Strange Exits: Woman dies as tyre explodes in freak accident

Jenna Wilcox died at the Western General HospitalAN AMERICAN Airforce Captain has died after a freak accident where a tyre exploded in the car she was travelling in near the Capital.

Jenna Wilcox, 27, was travelling through Dalkeith with her husband when a tyre being carried in the car exploded.

The US citizen was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary following the incident at 6pm last Saturday but passed away on Thursday night.

Her husband, Scott, 27, was in the car but only suffered minor injuries.

Yesterday colleagues paid tribute to the US Airforce Captain, who had been stationed in Britain, after a dangerous year-long tour of Afghanistan which saw her awarded a medal for bravery.

Mr Wilcox, who also serves as an Airforce Civil Engineer with the US military, was by his wife's side whilst she was being treated at the Western General, posting on his Facebook page that he was "praying for his wife".

Mrs Wilcox was based at RAF Mildenhall in Sussex where she served as an Airforce Civil Engineer with the 100th Civil Engineer Squadron.

The couple had been holidaying in Scotland and were driving on the town's Edinburgh Road when tragedy struck.

It is thought that they had changed their wheel after it bulged but could not fit the damaged tyre into the boot.

Police said they are investigating the incident, but added that it seemed to be a "tragic accident".

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Inquiries are ongoing to establish the cause of explosion, however this would appear to have been a tragic accident.

"A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in due course."

Mrs Wilcox kept a blog of her time in Afghanistan, regularly updating it with the things she saw and her thoughts whilst on tour.

She revealed that she had been awarded a bravery medal for her actions when the convoy she was travelling on was hit by a road-side bomb.

On her blog, Mrs Wilcox wrote: "At a recent awards ceremony all three engineers on the team, including myself, earned an Army Combat Action Badge.

"The ceremony was strange in the fact that people were congratulating me for getting blown up.

via Woman dies as tyre explodes in freak accident - Edinburgh Evening News.

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