Philadelphia Woman Gives Her Life To Save Husband From Drunk Driver
By Oren Liebermann
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Teresa Marquard took care of her husband until the very end.
"My mom, she's a hero, and I'm very glad she saved my dad for us, because we'd be lost without both of them," said Teresa's daughter, Monica.
The 58-year-old Northeast Philadelphia native was on a morning walk with her husband in Wissinoming Park when police say a drunk driver, identified as 33-year-old Eric Luciano, swerved across Frankford Avenue onto the sidewalk and hit Teresa Marquard. She pushed her husband out of the way to save him.
"She saved my dad. She pushed my dad out of the way and saved my dad," said daughter Denise Hirschman, fighting back tears. "That was what she cared about. She cared about us more than anything."
A man who identified himself as Luciano's brother at the family's Kensington home said Luciano was a truck driver.
"He's a working man. He's an honest person. It's a freak accident that happened," said the brother.
When asked why it is a freak accident when police say Luciano was drunk, the brother responded, "Everyone has their own thing," before closing the door.
Marquard's family says the two have been married for 42 years and have been together ever since they were 14-years-old.
"She said he was the only one for her," said Monica Marquard.
When Teresa's husband was diagnosed with heart disease 15 years ago, she started working at family court to support her loved ones and her husband.
"She was a hero. She was amazing. She did so much with not a lot of tools," said Teresa Marquard, who was named after her mother.
Marquard's family says she always put her family and her husband first, even the one time it meant giving up her own life for his.
