Concord Woman May Lose Eye After Rock Thrown From Hwy. 4 Overpass Crashes Through Her Windshield
CONCORD (CBS SF) - A Concord woman may lose her right eye after someone apparently threw a rock from an overpass that crashed through her windshield as she was driving to work last week.
It happened on December 23, at about 10:45 p.m. on state Highway 4 near the Highway 242 interchange.
Pam Burnett, described the incident in detail on a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for her medical bills.
Burnett, a married mother of boys ages 3 and 9 months, said she was on her way to a shift at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in nearby Martinez, where she works as a labor and delivery nurse.
Burnett said she nearing Olivera Road in north Concord, when a grapefruit-sized rock came through her windshield and struck her in the face. Fortunately, she was able to pull her car over and use Siri to call 9-1-1.
"My first thoughts were that I would never see my sweet boys' faces again, or be able to watch them as they grew up," Burnett wrote. "In this moment, I thought this was the end for me."
Burnett was treated at a nearby hospital for "very extensive facial fractures" affecting her right orbital bone, both sides of her nose, both eyebrows, her sinuses and her right cheek. She underwent surgery that night to assess the damage to her right eyeball, and endured another six hours of surgery on Christmas Day (Friday) to repair the facial fractures.
At this point, Burnett calls the prognosis for her right eye "guarded."
As of Tuesday night, the GoFundMe page has attracted more than $42,000 in donations toward a goal of $100,000.
The California Highway Patrol is seeking the public's help in finding the culprit(s). Anyone with information can call the CHP Martinez office at (925) 646-4980.
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