Laurie Zimbalardi can’t stop reliving the harrowing moments when a tree crashed through the windshield of the New Jersey Transit River Line train she was riding on Monday morning.
“When I close my eyes, all I can see is that picture of glass falling over me, being in darkness, hearing metal tearing, and the smell — I can still smell the smell,” Zimbalardi recalled, told NBC 10.
The train was traveling from Trenton at around 6 a.m. when it struck a tree on the tracks just north of Roebling Station in Mansfield Township. Zimbalardi, who was commuting with her boyfriend and about 40 other passengers, described the crash as “a scene out of a horror movie.”
“Before I knew it, I was up against a door, out of my chair,” she remembered. “We just kept going, and I was waiting for the impact. We were lifted so high up that the doors were opened. We couldn’t get out. Men were helping women and little ones out because we were that high off the ground.”
According to the Courier Post, Zimbalardi suffered a concussion, broken teeth, and minor cuts. Tragically, the crash claimed the life of 41-year-old conductor Jessica Haley, a single mother of three boys.
“Oh my God, I saw her,” Zimbalardi said. “The whole tree pushed her into our compartment. We saw her lying there. I didn’t know she was a mom. All I can say is I give [the family] my condolences, and prayers go out to all of them.”
An attorney representing Haley’s family stated that they “intend to pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law to prevent anyone from ever suffering the same fate as Jessica.”
This devastating accident marked the second train incident Zimbalardi had been involved in within just a week. The previous Friday, at the same time of morning, she was aboard the River Line when it struck a truck in Burlington, New Jersey.
Despite the trauma, Zimbalardi says public transportation is her only way to get to her job as a dental assistant in South Philadelphia. “It makes you realize how short life is,” she reflected.
As authorities continue investigating the crash, Zimbalardi, like many others, is left grappling with the emotional and physical aftermath of the terrifying accident.