WHITEHALL, N.Y. — A 77-year-old upstate New York woman has survived after being pinned under a sport utility vehicle for 18 hours.
Police tell The Post-Star of Glens Falls that Shirley Coderre of Whitehall exited her SUV on Monday afternoon but had neglected to shift it into park. When she noticed and tried to get back in, troopers say she was knocked down by the driver’s side door and the vehicle then rolled on top of her in the driveway of her rural home, pinning one leg under a wheel.
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State Police Sgt. Luke Splittgerber told the newspaper that one of the woman’s legs was fully pinned and the other was partially pinned under the vehicle, which was not visible from the road. He said the victim never lost consciousness.
Troopers say the woman, who lives alone, endured a night with temperatures in the lower 50s and rain showers. She was discovered Tuesday morning by a neighbor who heard her calls for help.
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Local firefighters extricated her from beneath the SUV and she was airlifted to Albany Medical Center for treatment.
A hospital spokesman said Coderre was recovering in the surgical intensive care unit on Tuesday evening.