LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Lynchburg woman says she’s lucky to be alive after a traumatic accident at a gas station Monday.
Surveillance video captured the moment an SUV crashed through the front windows of the Quick-E Food Store on Waterlick Road.
It shows the woman, an employee, walking to the cooler. She narrowly escapes the path of the SUV. She was the only manager in the store at the time.
“My initial thought was, I was dead,” Store Manager Jenifer Hamlett said with a laugh. “It all happened so fast. I had a lot of adrenaline.”
Hamlett said the first person she called was Operations Manager Amy Braxton. Braxton said they’ve had several cars run into the building, but she wasn’t prepared for this.
“My first thought was getting in to check on Jenifer,” Braxton said. “At that time, I didn’t even know she almost got hit. When we watched the camera, I was devastated because she came so close to getting hurt.”
Authorities said an elderly man went to hit the brakes and hit the gas by mistake.
The driver is okay, and so is Hamlett, who said she’s glad she’s still around to share the story. She said she only walked away with a couple of scratches.
“One of the other customers came to help. Construction workers came to help. They were working on the roads and they called 911,” Hamlett said. “In the moment I was very hysterical. I was screaming. I was crying. I had a lot going on.”
Damages are estimated to cost thousands of dollars. The store was boarded up and cleaned up that night. Braxton said they expect to open back up on Wednesday.
“After watching the video, how she escaped from major injury, I don’t know,” Braxton said. “Nothing but God.”