Monday, March 15, 2010
 
 
City woman. 85, hit by auto, hospitalized E-mail
Monday, 17 November 2008

By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — An 85-year-old woman who was struck by a vehicle as she walked across Clinton Street Friday remained hospitalized for her injuries yesterday.

Edwina Demers of Kennedy Manor was a patient in the trauma intensive care unit of Rhode Island Hospital.      
A hospital spokeswoman declined to release Demers’ condition, but Lt. Kenneth Paulhus of the Woonsocket Police Department said she was in serious condition Monday.
Demers was crossing Clinton Street about 1 p.m. when she was struck in the left lane by a vehicle that was slowing down for a red light at Cummings Way, police said. Clinton Street is a two-lane, one-way artery that runs north and Demers was crossing from the sidewalk on the right hand side in front of a Subway restaurant, less than a block from Kennedy Manor, a high rise for senior citizens at 547 Clinton St.
Patrolman Brien Godin, who was traveling in a police cruiser a couple of cars behind the vehicle that struck Demers, was an eyewitness to the accident.
“The pedestrian kept walking and the vehicle kept moving until the two collided,” Godin wrote in a report. “I watched as the woman was struck and thrown forward onto the roadway.”
See PEDESTRIAN, Page A-2
The driver was identified as Charleene E. Feeney, 51, of 70 Spring St. She was not charged with any offense following the accident, which remains under investigation, said Paulhus.
Feeney, who was driving a black SUV-style Kia, told police she had turned onto Clinton from Pond Street just before the accident. She said she was looking for a Sovereign Bank when she heard her husband, in the passenger seat, yell “Look out!” and noticed the woman step in front of her car.
Demers was lying on the ground when Godin pulled up, seconds later. She was bleeding from the face as Feeney stooped over her, cradling the victim’s head and trying to comfort her, Godin said.
The victim was conscious and speaking when rescue workers put her in the ambulance to take her to the hospital, Godin reported.
“Luckily it appears traffic was slowing for a signal ahead at Cummings Way when the accident happened,” said Paulhus. “But when you’re 80-plus years old even if you get bumped going at a slow rate of speed it’s going to cause some serious injuries.”

 

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 November 2008 )
 
< Prev   Next >
 
 
 
   
Copyright © 2010 Woonsocket Call. A Rhode Island Media Group Publication. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by TriCube Media