By By Laura Johnson
special to the standard
An Escambia County native was killed Monday and her toddler son injured in an accident near her home in Dadeville.
Family members said 29-year-old Nicole Gatwood Ordis was traveling with her son, Elijah, to Dadeville to cash her unemployment check when her 2002 Mercury collided with a 2002 Chevrolet on Alabama Highway 49 at 2:53 p.m. Monday. She died on the scene, and her son was seriously injured from the impact.
Ordis was a 1997 graduate of Flomaton High School and a former Flomaton Elementary School teacher.
After the accident, Elijah Ordis was rushed to East Alabama Medical Center and was later airlifted to UAB Hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit on Tuesday but was released Wednesday. He was treated for possible injuries including a bruised lung, broken ribs and possible brain swelling, but was sent home with only bruises.
Gene, now on temporary leave from his job, is at home with his recovering son where he is coping with the loss of his wife.
Gene stayed in Birmingham with his son throughout the ordeal, but he and his son have returned to his family’s Camp Hill home where they are recuperating from the loss.
He and his wife recently moved to family property in Camp Hill from Orlando, Fla., after Nicole, an elementary school teacher, lost her job because of budget cuts. In recent weeks, she had begun applying for graduate school and her husband was hired to work as a chef at Community Hospital in Tallassee in late July.
The couple was recently selected to receive Medicaid but had no additional health insurance and no life insurance at the time of the accident. His newly acquired coworkers have been offering prayers and some financial assistance.