96-year-old woman rescued from car seconds before train hits in Illinois
LOMBARD, Illinois -- A train crashed into a car on the tracks in Illinois just seconds after the elderly driver was rescued by two good Samaritans and a police officer.
It happened around 8:30 p.m. Monday, when the driver -- 96-year-old Antoinette Lazzara -- got stuck on the tracks at a railroad crossing.
She was apparently disoriented and had trouble getting out of the car as the train approached.
WATCH: Raw video of Metra train crashing into elderly driver's car
"I saw the wheels turning, saw that the vehicle was stuck and was not able to move," Lombard Police Officer Dan Herrera said.
Herrera, along with 19-year-old Steve Spapperi and 24-year-old Justin Muelle, as well as another man nearby, jumped out of their cars and ran to help get Lazzara out of the way.
Spapperi and Mueller both saw Lazzara lose control and drive onto the tracks.
"We started pulling her out of the car, and that's when you see the train lights turning the corner," Spapperi said. "And we were like, 'Yeah, we gotta get out of here.'"
"I see a car parked all sideways, weird, on the train tracks," Mueller said. "She didn't quite know how she got there. She didn't quite know what happened."
Less than 10 seconds later, the train crashed into the woman's car.
"We started walking her out and realized she couldn't, with her cane and everything, walk on the rocks and stuff," Mueller said. "We ended up having to carry her, carry her off."
Chris Diaz, who was a passenger in Spapperi's car, captured the crash on cellphone video. It shows Lazzara's white 2006 Lincoln Zephyr being pushed more than 50 feet by the train.
"I do believe, I was even praying on my way coming home from work, I do believe that God put us there right in time," Mueller said.
Lazzara was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where she was under observation Tuesday evening. She was not injured in the incident.
Just 12 hours earlier, Lazzara had been reported missing from her Burr Ridge home.
In a statement, Lombard Police Chief Roy Newton applauded the good Samaritans.
"It's nice to know that we still have people that act when others are in need," he said. "I truly believe that they helped save a life this day. These are both Lombard residents and I'm very proud of our town. Lombard is a community that cares about its neighbors and that's evident with this situation."
Police are working to reconstruct the incident to determine how the vehicle became stuck on the tracks.
The Metra train was being operated by Union Pacific railroad employees. Union Pacific owns the tracks.
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