CHICAGO — A close brush with death unfolded for Oksana Kovalchuk on Friday on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The 53-year-old narrowly escaped a tragic fate when a large piece of concrete crashed through her windshield on Interstate 55.
In an interview with ABC7, Kovalchuk recounted the harrowing experience. She described the terrifying moment when she opened her eyes to find the massive chunk of concrete mere inches from her head. “I don’t see nothing. I just heard ‘boom,’ and everything got dark,” she recalled, still shaken by the ordeal.
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Kovalchuk, a resident of Justice, Illinois, expressed her gratitude at surviving the incident. The frightening episode occurred while she was driving to work, as the grandmother was traveling along I-55 at Pulaski. The concrete had fallen from an overpass, crashing into the windshield of her SUV.
Following the accident, Kovalchuk was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for multiple cuts on her face, neck, and hands. Despite the injuries, she considers herself fortunate to be alive and is currently recovering at home.
Kovalchuk, from Justice, Illinois, is recovering on Monday night after her family says a 2-foot-long chunk of concrete fell off an overpass and hit her SUV’s windshield on I-55 at Pulaski as the grandmother was on way to work.
Oksana was hospitalized with multiple lacerations to her face, neck, and hands.
“The worse thing is, I could not sleep because I have stress, or something, and my head is real, like painful,” Kovalchuk said.
Kovalchuk’s daughter, Victoria Petriv, says her mother is not the only one who is grateful for her survival.
“We’re lucky, not just her. The family is lucky that she’s alive. It’s unbelievable,” Petriv said.
They are thankful but still traumatized.
“When one piece fell in the front, I guess the second one broke and went into the second seat. It bounced from the seat and hit back,” Petriv said. “Someone has to be responsible for this. This should have never happened. Never.”
The Illinois Department of Transportation says it has done multiple inspections since the incident and has not seen any loose concrete.
A structure summary report shows the bridge was last inspected October 2024 with no major issues found.
Kovalchuk says, so far, no authorities have reached out to her to talk next steps.
An IDOT says it performed “preventative measures” out of an abundance of caution and will continue to monitor the area. IDOT did not elaborate on what the preventative measures were.
