Lake Villa woman survives branch impaling her

Helen Miller will be taking home a little reminder of her recent stay in the hospital that is not available in the gift shop.

The Lake Villa woman asked her husband to save the shank of tree branch that crashed through her car windshield Tuesday morning and tore through her side so she can use it for an art project.

“She's an art teacher, so she is a bit of a free spirit,” Todd Miller said of his wife, who was recovering from surgery Tuesday night at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.

“She told me she wanted to keep it, so I went and asked one of the paramedics if I could have it,” Miller said. “He found it and gave it to me, and I have it out in the car for her.”

Helen Miller was driving east on Grand Avenue around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday when the high winds blew the branch out of a tree and through the windshield of her SmartCar.

Todd said the branch struck his wife near the abdomen and went through her side without striking any vital organs, but leaving her seriously injured nonetheless.

Seriously injured, Todd said, but conscious.

“She was awake the entire time, and said she sang 1980s songs for the paramedics on the way to the hospital,” her relieved husband said. “There is no doubt we were very lucky today.”

A witness to the accident stopped and was talking to Helen while she was still trapped in the car, Todd said, and his wife asked the woman to call him.

“I was very concerned when I got the call but was able to get to the hospital very quickly,” Todd said. “I got here about 40 minutes before they brought her in, and that wait was extremely hard.

Hospital spokesman Vince Pierri, who arranged for Todd to meet with the media Tuesday evening at the hospital, said Helen was in fair condition and expected to make a full recovery.

Todd said his wife survived a childhood heart condition and he was not at all surprised by the pluck she displayed on Tuesday.

“I like to say that she has nine lives, and I said it again today,” Todd said. “To which our daughter Samantha replied, ‘Yeah, but she's only got about three left.'”