Believe It or Not, an Elderly Woman Survived This Train-Car Collision
— -- An emergency responder considers a 78-year-old woman shown on video driving into the path of a train "very, very lucky" to be alive and recovering in a hospital today.
Video from the Metra commuter train service shows Patricia Vitale's Honda Accord driving into the path of an oncoming train in Itasca, Illinois, early Tuesday -- even though the crossing gates were down, lights were flashing and the train’s horn was blowing. The Honda can be seen trying to reverse, but failing to get out of the train's path in time.
The railroad estimated the train's speed at 40-50 mph.
Itasca Fire Sgt. John Matuga found Vitale's car, with her inside, off the tracks and crushed up against a control box more than 20 feet away.
“Her voice definitely fit the picture of someone just hit by train," Matuga said.
"I was very surprised to find her conscious and coherent and with no real obvious signs of external trauma," he added. "I hope everyone out there realizes how serious it is to stay off the tracks and obey train signals.”
Vitale was being treated for a broken vertebra, several broken ribs and a punctured lung in a hospital intensive care unit, ABC News station WLS in Chicago reported.
Jim Vitale was on the way to meet his mother, a retired schoolteacher, when he found out what happened.
"It's amazing anybody could live through that. God was on her side," he told WLS.
"She's crossed those railroad tracks thousands of times over the years, so something doesn't add up," he added. "I can see some explanation that she slid a little bit, but it seems to make more sense that maybe she was bumped."
Metra police were actively investigating, but could not immediately determine the cause of the crash, Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said.
