‘I felt like a ragdoll, being thrown around a car’: Victim of Hwy. 401 collision

Last Thursday, Brittany Castagnier was driving east on Highway 401 from Odessa to Kingston to meet a client. She drove for about two minutes and then she was suddenly hit by a transport truck from behind and ended up in a ditch.

Castagnier says she heard a loud bang and the next thing she knew, her car was resting in a ditch. The entire experience is a blur because it happened so fast. But what Castagnier does remember is that she “felt like a ragdoll, being thrown around a car.”

The car’s airbags deployed during the crash and all Castagnier could see was her sunroof, everything else was covered. Castagnier says “I felt so claustrophobic.”

She then tried to kick the sunroof out so she could escape from her red Mazda but she was unsuccessful. “I really thought I was giving it my all,” Castagnier said.

Fortunately, at that moment another transport truck driver stopped on the shoulder of the highway, broke through her sunroof and pulled her out of her vehicle.

The transport truck that hit Castagnier’s car had also hit other vehicles in a chain reaction collision.  No one was seriously hurt.

“The luck of that was extraordinary,” says Cont. Scott Woodburn with the Napanee OPP. Castagnier is suffering from a concussion and is also being treated for whiplash.

Castagnier says she’s lucky as “things could have ended up to be a lot worse.” Castagnier’s Mazda has been written off.

Castagnier adds that she’s thankful for the truck driver who rescued her, the paramedics and the people who cared for her by giving away their jackets and blankets. She also hopes the truck driver who hit her vehicle learns his lesson and is more careful going forward.