A woman who went to eat a meal at a Louisiana Taco Bell is lucky to be alive after the fast food restaurant’s massive sign came crashing down on her car during the recent inclement weather.
Last week, a woman was waiting in a Crowley, Louisiana, Taco Bell drive-thru line when a strong wind blew over the sign. The pole crushed her Kia sedan – narrowly missing the driver who was alone at the time.
“Crowley Police would like to advise everyone due to the storm that just passed, please be aware of downed power lines and blocked roads. If you see emergency vehicles, avoid the area,” Crowley Police Chief Troy Hebert wrote in a Sept. 8 Facebook post.
“There is a report of one injury at this time,” the post added with several photos of the local damage. One of the images was of a large pole that had been toppled in a parking lot, and another showed signs spread across the ground at a Taco Bell.
The woman’s identity has not been made public, but additional photos and videos show her entire back seat completely bent under the weight of the franchise’s sign.
“The ambulance was involved [site] pretty quickly,” Acadia Parish Superintendent Scott Richard said, according to KLFY-10.
“The individual was very carefully removed from the car and miraculously she was not injured beyond what she was,” Richard said. “As you can tell if you do a close-up of where the sign actually fell, no one else was hurt because it’s a pretty big sign, [a] very high mark. We’re just thankful no one was seriously injured.”
The woman’s daughter, Madyson Dailey, spoke to ABC affiliate KATC-3 about her mother’s ordeal.
“She looked up and saw the sign swinging seconds later [it] was in her backseat,” Dailey said on Sept. 9.
“She called and said her head was bleeding,” Dailey continued. “She was stuck in her car and a pole fell into her car. She has a small cut on her head that got staples, but other than that she’ll be fine.”
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She revealed that just before the Taco Bell sign flattened the back seat of the vehicle, her mother was on her way to pick up her siblings from school, but stopped to get them some food.
“Thank God, there are no major injuries, just minor ones and she got out alive,” added her daughter.
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Dailey also offered a suggestion for others who may be traveling during inclement weather.
“Honestly, it’s best to just not hit the roads if you don’t have to,” she said.
Earlier this year, a similar situation at a fast food restaurant ended in a fatality.
Three people were in a car in a Denny’s parking lot in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, when a large sign fell on top of their vehicle, trapping them inside. The group had to be “extricated” by local firefighters, and the 72-year-old woman did not survive, police confirmed to PEOPLE.
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The coroner identified the deceased as Lillian Curtis, according to WDRB News.
“I can say for sure that the wind was a factor. A very, very sad situation,” Elizabethtown police spokesman Chris Denha told NBC News.
“Denny’s is aware of the incident that occurred at our Elizabethtown location on Thursday,” a Denny’s spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. “Safety is our top priority and we are working with the authorities to better understand what led to this situation. Our thoughts are with everyone involved.”
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Source: HIS Education