“I was tired and was lying there wondering if I should call in sick,” she said. “But I got up and went.”
Looking back, she wishes she didn’t. It turned out to be one of the most traumatic days of her life.
Update:
White truck ruled out as suspect vehicle in freak accident
Feltham ended up in a pool of blood in her car after a foot-and-a-half-long piece of steel, which flew off a passing white cube truck, smashed through her windshield and hit her in the face.
“I had no idea I was even hit. I had no pain,” she said. “I never knew something was wrong until I bent down and blood started pouring out. I had no idea how bad it was.”
As Feltham gently lowers herself onto a chair in her St. John’s home Tuesday, it’s clear she’s still feeling the effects of the incident. Her mouth and lips are swollen and stitched, both inside and outside, she has lost several teeth, while others are shifted and bent, she has plates inserted in her mouth and her jaw is wired together, her eye is bruised, her cheek is cut and she’s in pain.
“I cry a lot,” she said, breaking down in tears. “It’s changed my life.”
It happened at 11:30 a.m. as she was driving her black Hyundai Elantra home from work. A respite worker, Feltham was heading east on Waterford Bridge Road, just past the Bowring Park duck pond, en route to Pitts Memorial Drive.
She remembers seeing a white van or truck driving in the opposite direction, but doesn’t remember much after that.
“The next thing I know, I was on the side of the road,” she said. “I somehow managed to pull over.”
She saw the hole in the windshield, there was a piece of steel on her chest and the rearview mirror had been knocked off, but she didn’t realize anything serious had happened to her until she saw the blood.
She immediately called her boyfriend, Angus Ferguson, who had a hard time understanding what she was saying, she was screaming so much, but a nurse who had stopped to help took her phone and told him where they were. He raced to get there.
“When I opened the door and saw her, I’ll never forget it,” Ferguson said, his voice quivering. “I spent 15 years in the military and I’ve seen some bad things, but when it’s one of your own, it’s tough.”
The fire department, police and ambulance were there within minutes.
Once at the hospital, Feltham finally got to see the damage to her face when she went to the washroom.
“I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe it. My (upper) lip was split, shifted and hanging,” said Feltham, who stayed in the hospital for three days. “Some teeth were lodged up in the roof of my mouth, some teeth had shifted and were crooked and sideways.
“I had a panic attack.”
Plastic surgeons managed to reattach her lip by sewing it back together, but she will have the wires in her mouth for six weeks and she’s on a liquid diet. When everything heals, she’ll need extensive dental work.
“Every day it gets better,” said Feltham, adding she worries about her 16-year-old son, who was shaken by what happened to his mother. “It’s going to take time.”
She hopes to heal physically, but the emotional impact has been difficult.
“I feel broken,” she said, her eyes filled with tears. “What if they can’t fix my face? What if I’m not going to look the same? What if for the rest of my life I’m going to have pain?
“Every day I wonder, why me?”
Police told Feltham that the 18- by 3-inch, 25-pound piece of steel had broken off from underneath the truck.
“It was definitely a freak accident,” she said.
A kilometre faster, it would’ve hit the roof, a kilometre slower, it would’ve hit the engine hood, she was told.
“Looking back, I think to myself, why didn’t I go a different route? Why didn’t I drive a little faster?” she said.
The truck didn’t stop and police are still looking for it and the driver.
A video that investigators obtained from a nearby apartment building, and have released to the public, shows what happened. The truck hits a bump, the piece of steel flies in the air and into Feltham’s car. However, it is a side view and the truck’s licence plate can’t be seen.
The video has been shared close to 30,000 times on social media, but no one has come forward to claim responsibility.
Feltham admits she feels angry and hopes the driver is not hiding to avoid punishment.
“They should do the right thing and go to the RNC,” she said. “If they didn’t know something happened, tell them. But come forward. For me, it would be closure.”
She worries most that if the truck isn’t fixed, someone else could be hurt.
“If they don’t realize this has happened, they don’t know their truck is damaged. It’s quite possible it could be dangerous,” she said.
Since the incident, Feltham has been showered with support from family and friends. She’s gotten so much soup she’s had to buy bottles, plus cards and gifts, including angel ornaments.
“Everybody feels I had an angel that day,” she said.
“After what happened to me, I look at things in a totally different perspective now. I’m very lucky to be alive.”
She’s also learned a lot and has one message for everyone who drives.
“If you own a vehicle, whether it be a car or a truck, personal or commercial, anything that’s on the road, make sure it’s routinely checked,” she said.
“Anything can happen. This could have been a whole lot worse and I may not have been here today to talk about it.”
Twitter: TelyCourt
“I was tired and was lying there wondering if I should call in sick,” she said. “But I got up and went.”
Looking back, she wishes she didn’t. It turned out to be one of the most traumatic days of her life.
Update:
White truck ruled out as suspect vehicle in freak accident
Feltham ended up in a pool of blood in her car after a foot-and-a-half-long piece of steel, which flew off a passing white cube truck, smashed through her windshield and hit her in the face.
“I had no idea I was even hit. I had no pain,” she said. “I never knew something was wrong until I bent down and blood started pouring out. I had no idea how bad it was.”
As Feltham gently lowers herself onto a chair in her St. John’s home Tuesday, it’s clear she’s still feeling the effects of the incident. Her mouth and lips are swollen and stitched, both inside and outside, she has lost several teeth, while others are shifted and bent, she has plates inserted in her mouth and her jaw is wired together, her eye is bruised, her cheek is cut and she’s in pain.
“I cry a lot,” she said, breaking down in tears. “It’s changed my life.”
It happened at 11:30 a.m. as she was driving her black Hyundai Elantra home from work. A respite worker, Feltham was heading east on Waterford Bridge Road, just past the Bowring Park duck pond, en route to Pitts Memorial Drive.
She remembers seeing a white van or truck driving in the opposite direction, but doesn’t remember much after that.
“The next thing I know, I was on the side of the road,” she said. “I somehow managed to pull over.”
She saw the hole in the windshield, there was a piece of steel on her chest and the rearview mirror had been knocked off, but she didn’t realize anything serious had happened to her until she saw the blood.
She immediately called her boyfriend, Angus Ferguson, who had a hard time understanding what she was saying, she was screaming so much, but a nurse who had stopped to help took her phone and told him where they were. He raced to get there.
“When I opened the door and saw her, I’ll never forget it,” Ferguson said, his voice quivering. “I spent 15 years in the military and I’ve seen some bad things, but when it’s one of your own, it’s tough.”
The fire department, police and ambulance were there within minutes.
Once at the hospital, Feltham finally got to see the damage to her face when she went to the washroom.
“I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe it. My (upper) lip was split, shifted and hanging,” said Feltham, who stayed in the hospital for three days. “Some teeth were lodged up in the roof of my mouth, some teeth had shifted and were crooked and sideways.
“I had a panic attack.”
Plastic surgeons managed to reattach her lip by sewing it back together, but she will have the wires in her mouth for six weeks and she’s on a liquid diet. When everything heals, she’ll need extensive dental work.
“Every day it gets better,” said Feltham, adding she worries about her 16-year-old son, who was shaken by what happened to his mother. “It’s going to take time.”
She hopes to heal physically, but the emotional impact has been difficult.
“I feel broken,” she said, her eyes filled with tears. “What if they can’t fix my face? What if I’m not going to look the same? What if for the rest of my life I’m going to have pain?
“Every day I wonder, why me?”
Police told Feltham that the 18- by 3-inch, 25-pound piece of steel had broken off from underneath the truck.
“It was definitely a freak accident,” she said.
A kilometre faster, it would’ve hit the roof, a kilometre slower, it would’ve hit the engine hood, she was told.
“Looking back, I think to myself, why didn’t I go a different route? Why didn’t I drive a little faster?” she said.
The truck didn’t stop and police are still looking for it and the driver.
A video that investigators obtained from a nearby apartment building, and have released to the public, shows what happened. The truck hits a bump, the piece of steel flies in the air and into Feltham’s car. However, it is a side view and the truck’s licence plate can’t be seen.
The video has been shared close to 30,000 times on social media, but no one has come forward to claim responsibility.
Feltham admits she feels angry and hopes the driver is not hiding to avoid punishment.
“They should do the right thing and go to the RNC,” she said. “If they didn’t know something happened, tell them. But come forward. For me, it would be closure.”
She worries most that if the truck isn’t fixed, someone else could be hurt.
“If they don’t realize this has happened, they don’t know their truck is damaged. It’s quite possible it could be dangerous,” she said.
Since the incident, Feltham has been showered with support from family and friends. She’s gotten so much soup she’s had to buy bottles, plus cards and gifts, including angel ornaments.
“Everybody feels I had an angel that day,” she said.
“After what happened to me, I look at things in a totally different perspective now. I’m very lucky to be alive.”
She’s also learned a lot and has one message for everyone who drives.
“If you own a vehicle, whether it be a car or a truck, personal or commercial, anything that’s on the road, make sure it’s routinely checked,” she said.
“Anything can happen. This could have been a whole lot worse and I may not have been here today to talk about it.”
Twitter: TelyCourt
