The Brief
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A woman from Downey survived a freak accident on the 57 Freeway after a metal rod impaled her while she was driving.
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The driver, who is a nurse, was rushed to a trauma center and is now recovering at home.
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She is urging drivers to secure their loads after the incident that she believes was caused by an unsecured object falling from a truck.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. – A Downey woman says she’s lucky to be alive after a freak accident left her impaled by a metal rod while driving on the 57 Freeway in Brea. Jessica Preciado was on her way to go hiking Tuesday morning after dropping off her son when the unexpected happened.
“I thought I got shot, I thought a car hit me, I felt a big impact,” Preciado recalled.
Moments earlier, she had heard a loud pop followed by sudden, sharp pain. Preciado didn’t realize at first what had happened. A metal rod had pierced the bottom of her Ford Fusion, shot through her driver’s seat, and went straight into her left buttock.
“I felt really weak, my blood pressure dropped. I started sweating profusely. I felt cold,” she said. “I was so confused as to where this injury was coming from.”
When paramedics arrived, they too struggled to find a problem, until she told them, “Please look behind me. I think I’m stuck to the seat.” That’s when medics discovered the rod still lodged in her body.
As a nurse, Preciado knew the paramedics’ advice was correct: don’t move, don’t try to remove the object. But in shock, she did the opposite.
“I know I shouldn’t have done this, but I jumped out of my seat and pulled myself off the object,” she admitted. “In the moment, it was just instinct, I wanted to get off of it.”
Preciado was rushed to a trauma center. Miraculously, she’s already home, though she is struggling to walk. She realizes it could have been much worse. “I was just sad because I had dropped off my son and then I thought, what if I wouldn’t be here at the end of the day?” she said, fighting back tears.
Now recovering, Preciado is urging drivers to secure their loads before hitting the road. She believes the rod that nearly killed her may have fallen off a truck traveling ahead of her on the freeway.
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