Overview
- Janina Akporavbare was impaled by a metal pole that flew through her windshield on the 10 Freeway in San Bernardino on Aug. 25 as her younger brother rode in the back seat.
- She steered off the road and called 911 while the pole remained lodged in her stomach and dragged from the front of her car.
- Firefighters cut the pole in place and paramedics reached the hospital in about 10 minutes, where doctors estimated only a 1% chance of survival.
- She underwent three surgeries and spent nearly two months at Loma Linda University Medical Center, losing part of her colon and sustaining liver and kidney injuries.
- Medical bills total roughly $1 million, she missed a semester of nursing school, and investigators still have not identified the pole’s origin as she urges witnesses to come forward.