News brief: Three victims of Rochester wreck remain hospitalized

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Almost two weeks after a head-on crash in Rochester, three of the four persons injured remain hospitalized.

Angela M. Saxon, 40, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she was listed in critical condition following the Dec. 16 collision  on U.S. Highway 12 at Denmark Street.

Saxon is in satisfactory condition today, according to a hospital spokesperson.

The driver of the car she was in, Eric W. Saxon, 41, was in good condition today at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. They are both from Rochester.

The Centralia couple traveling in a 1993 GMC van were both taken to Providence Centralia Hospital immediately after the wreck.

Rita S. Dominguez, 54, just got released on Friday, according to her daughter.

Yesenia Dominguez, who also lives in Centralia, said her father was transferred to Harborview that weekend and underwent his second surgery there today.

J. Vidal Dominguez-Mireles, 54, who has his own handyman business, had a broken pelvis and what his daughter described as a burst vertebrae.

“Luckily he’s not going to be paralyzed, that’s the miracle,” Yesenia Dominguez said.

It’s an intersection that has seen several fatalities over the years, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Lt. Eric Smith who was part of the crew that responded to the afternoon wreckage.

The Washington State Patrol described the collision as occurring when Dominguez-Mireles moved into the oncoming lane to avoid stopped traffic.

Yesenia Dominguez said she understood the car in front of her parents stopped very fast and her dad swerved to miss it. Both vehicles were totaled.

The 30-year-old says she’s been praying for her parents and the other couple who she doesn’t know. It’s the kind of incident that’s made her rethink the importance of family, she said.

“You work all day, come home and don’t take a lot of time for family,” she said. “I realize my mom and dad could be worse; like, not here.”
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For background, read “News brief: Four injured in Rochester head-on crash” from Sunday December 16, 2012 at 6:10 p.m., here

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