A South Carolina family is mourning the loss of a 24-year-old woman and the baby boy she was expecting after a freak go-kart accident left her critically injured.
Baylee Johnson, of Sumter, was riding a go-kart on August 23 when her hair became caught in part of the kart’s machinery, according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker and local reports.
What initially appeared to be a terrible accident would ultimately claim two lives.
Johnson was taken to a hospital after the incident but remained critically injured for more than a week. She died on August 31, eight days after the accident. Her unborn son, whom she and her boyfriend had already named Johnny, also did not survive.
The circumstances surrounding the accident have now emerged as her family prepares to say goodbye.
A routine ride turned into a medical emergency
According to Coroner Robbie Baker, Johnson’s hair became caught in the sprocket of the go-kart while she was riding it in the Sumter area.
A sprocket is a toothed wheel that transfers motion within the kart’s mechanical system. When Johnson’s hair became entangled, her neck was violently pulled backward, causing a severe hyperextension and preventing her from breathing, Baker told local media.
Johnson was pulled unconscious from the go-kart and reportedly had no pulse.
Emergency responders were able to revive her before she was transported to a hospital in Florence, where doctors continued treating her injuries.
For the next several days, her family hoped she would recover.
She ultimately died on August 31.
Her family was also waiting for a baby boy
The tragedy became even more heartbreaking when it became known that Johnson was pregnant.
Her family said she was approximately 15 weeks pregnant when the accident happened. Other reports have described her as 16 weeks pregnant, so the precise gestational age has been reported differently. What is clear is that Johnson was expecting her first child, a boy she and her boyfriend had already decided to name Johnny.
The baby’s expected due date was February 21.
Johnson’s boyfriend, Justin Lowder, shared the pregnancy news publicly while she was hospitalized, as her condition and the condition of the unborn baby became increasingly serious.
In a Facebook message, Lowder asked people to pray for Johnson and their unborn son.
For many members of Johnson’s extended family, that heartbreaking announcement was also the first time they learned that she was expecting a child.
It was not how the couple had planned to share the news.
Instead of celebrating a pregnancy, loved ones were asking for prayers for a young mother-to-be fighting for her life.
Baylee had been preparing for a new life
Family members said Johnson was excited about becoming a mother and had already begun imagining the life she wanted for her son.
Her obituary portrays her as someone whose personality extended well beyond the tragedy now surrounding her name.
She was described as funny, spontaneous and carefree — someone who could walk into a room and immediately bring energy with her.
Her family also remembered her as a devoted aunt.
Spending time with her nieces and nephew was described as one of the great joys of her life, and relatives said they knew her affectionately as “Bay Bay.”
The family said she loved coloring, laughing, being silly and making ordinary moments memorable.
She had also recently reached an important milestone in her professional life.
Johnson had secured what her family described as her dream job as a medical assistant at Prisma Health OB/GYN–Sumter.
That detail has added another layer to the loss.
She was not simply preparing to become a mother. She was also beginning the career she had wanted and building the life she envisioned for herself and her child.
The accident left a family waiting and hoping
After the August 23 accident, Johnson’s loved ones were faced with an agonizing period of uncertainty.
She had survived the initial emergency, but her injuries were severe.
Medical teams worked to treat her while family and friends waited for updates.
Her boyfriend eventually turned to social media to ask for prayers, revealing the pregnancy and explaining just how serious the situation had become.
The family now knows that Johnson would not return home.
Neither would Johnny.
According to her family, the two died eight days after the accident.
Relatives have said they are finding some comfort in believing that Baylee and her unborn son never had to experience a final separation.
A loss that reached beyond the immediate family
The news has also affected people who knew Johnson through work and her personal life.
Her family said caring for others came naturally to her, a quality that was especially meaningful given her work at an OB/GYN practice.
She had been looking forward to becoming a mother herself while working in an environment centered around women’s health and pregnancy.
Those close to her now remember the contrast between the future she was preparing for and the sudden tragedy that ended it.
Her obituary describes a woman who loved to laugh, dance and sing without worrying about what other people thought.
Those ordinary traits have become some of the memories her family is holding onto.
Funeral services are now planned
Johnson’s family is preparing for a visitation Friday evening at Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home in Sumter.
A celebration of life is scheduled for Saturday morning at Northside Memorial Baptist Church, with the public invited to attend, according to her obituary and local reporting.
The family has also asked that people wishing to honor Johnson and her unborn son consider making memorial donations through the McLeod Health Foundation.
The request reflects the family’s desire to remember both Baylee and Johnny together.
What authorities have said about the accident
At this time, the publicly reported circumstances describe the incident as an accident involving Johnson’s hair becoming caught in the go-kart’s sprocket.
Authorities have not publicly announced criminal charges connected to the incident in the sources reviewed for this report.
There is also no verified information establishing that another person intentionally caused Johnson’s injuries.
The focus of the available reporting remains on the unusual mechanical accident, the severe injuries she suffered and the aftermath of her death.
That distinction is important because the tragedy is extraordinary enough on its own without adding conclusions that investigators have not made.
A birthday that will never happen
Perhaps the most painful part of the story is the future that Johnson had already begun planning.
She and Justin Lowder had chosen a name for their son.
Johnny was expected to arrive in February.
Johnson had begun dreaming about motherhood, and according to her family, she was already thinking about the life she wanted to give him.
Instead, her family is now preparing to bury her.
The little boy she had been carrying will never be born.
And a pregnancy that was supposed to bring months of anticipation became known publicly only because the young mother was fighting for her life.
For the people closest to Baylee, the tragedy is not defined only by the bizarre circumstances of the accident.
It is defined by everything that was supposed to come afterward.
A new baby.
A new job.
More time with her nieces and nephew.
More family gatherings.
More laughter.
More ordinary days.
All of those things disappeared in the aftermath of one terrible accident.
Baylee Johnson was 24 years old.
Her son Johnny had not yet entered the world.
But according to the family, he was already deeply loved.
As relatives prepare to gather this weekend to remember Baylee, they are also mourning the child she never had the chance to meet.
And amid the grief, her family says they are holding onto one final piece of comfort: Baylee and Johnny never had to say goodbye to one another.