Cara McCollum, a former Miss New Jersey winner and Miss America contestant, died on Monday morning at the age of 24 just a week after a car accident.
McCollum was critically injured when her vehicle spun off a highway in New Jersey and crashed head on into a tree. She was traveling alone and her seatbelt wasn't on. She died at the Cooper University Hospital, according to Variety.
The Prayers for Cara Facebook page confirmed that McCollum's family was with her in the operating room when she died at 4:31 a.m. "We've prayed constantly for a miracle, and we believe God has answered our prayers," the announcement read. "Although it's not the miracle that we first envisioned, it's a miracle nonetheless."
The family went on to thank McCollum's supporters for their prayers and revealed that she made the decision to donate her organs before she died.
McCollum, originally from Arkansas, was a resident of Margate, N.J. and attended Princeton University. She won Miss New Jersey in 2013 and represented the state in Miss America 2014.
McCollum served as an anchor for a local news program in Southern New Jersey called "SNJ Today," HNGN previously reported.
