Mother, daughter in Route 1A crash improving at hospital

ELLSWORTH – The condition of a Hancock County corrections officer who was badly hurt last week when her car collided head-on with a tractor-trailer truck on Route 1A has improved since the weekend, according to a hospital official.

April Hatch, 25, and her daughter Raven Hatch, 3, both were listed in fair condition Tuesday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, a hospital spokeswoman said. Raven’s condition had improved from critical to serious and then to fair late last week.

The mother, with Raven and her other daughter, 2-year-old Ashlynn Hatch, was driving home to Clifton the morning of June 22 after working the 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift at the Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth. Ashlynn Hatch died the day after the accident.

The accident occurred after Hatch had been picked up from work by her husband, Stewart Hatch, and the girls and then had dropped her husband off at his job in Trenton, according to police.

Officials have speculated that April Hatch may have fallen asleep at the wheel while driving home.

Hancock County Sheriff William Clark said Tuesday that the Hatch family, whose only car was totaled in the wreck, is considering more than one offer from well-wishers of a free replacement vehicle.