Impaled Mother Survives

A woman 8 1/2 months pregnant fell from a loft in her home Wednesday and was impaled on a microphone stand, police said.

Jessie Wickham, 34, was in critical condition Wednesday night at the University of Michigan Hospital, spokeswoman Carolyn Mogan said.

Relatives told Detroit television station WDIV Wickham’s baby was to be delivered by Caesarean section early today. Mogan could not confirm that.

The woman was impaled in the upper chest, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus of Howell reported.

She was in the home’s second-story loft when she became dizzy and fell, crashing through a banister, the police chief, Robert Brookins, said.

She fell onto the 3-foot microphone stand, placed near musical instruments on the first floor, officials said.

She was able to call 911 for help, the newspaper said. After she hung up, her 6-year-old son called back to help guide emergency personnel to the home, about 40 miles west of Detroit.

Friends said Wickham was a bass player and vocalist who opened her home to area musicians to practice.

“She’s like the biggest-hearted person you could ever meet in your life,” said Lisa Huff, a friend.