GILROY
– An on-duty letter carrier nearly lost her right arm after her
vehicle rolled over three times Wednesday morning on U.S. 101, just
south of the Monterey Street exit.
GILROY – An on-duty letter carrier nearly lost her right arm after her vehicle rolled over three times Wednesday morning on U.S. 101, just south of the Monterey Street exit.
“I saw her violently swerve, and I saw her roll – with mail flying everywhere,” witness David Zimmerman, of San Jose, said at the scene. “It was like something out of a movie … unfolding in my rear-view mirror.”
Southbound 101 traffic slowed for about an hour after the 10:40 a.m. accident, reduced from two lanes to one as Gilroy firefighters cut the roof off of 58-year-old Mary Bermudas’ Jeep Cherokee to extricate her. California Highway Patrol officers then blocked both lanes for 13 minutes while a Stanford Life Flight helicopter landed in the freeway.
The air ambulance flew Bermudas to Stanford Hospital rather than to closer trauma centers in San Jose because Stanford has better arm surgeons, fire officials said. Bermudas’ right arm was broken and nearly severed, and a reattachment team was waiting for her when she arrived at Stanford Hospital, CHP officer David Agredano said. He was aware of no other injuries.
CHP officers did not take an official statement from Bermudas at the scene because she was “in and out” of consciousness, but she did describe what caused the accident, Agredano said.
“According to her, someone tapped her from behind, which caused her to lose control and go onto the shoulder,” Agredano said. “She overcorrected and … rolled about three times.”
Agredano said he did notice some impact in the rear of Bermudas’ Jeep.
“I still haven’t determined whether that was from another car or from the rollover,” he said.
Three eyewitnesses stopped to describe the accident to CHP officers, but none of these remembered seeing a vehicle hit the Jeep, Agredano said.
“In a crash like this, when witnesses take the time to stick around, it really helps us out,” he said.
Mail was strewn all over the highway and its shoulder when Bermudas crashed. As a vigorous east wind began to blow it around, volunteer citizens, CHP officers and Caltrans workers helped gather it.
Bermudas is a Gilroy resident who works out of the city’s post office on Fourth Street. Postmaster Penny Yates said Bermudas was going about her rounds when she crashed but declined further comment.
The Jeep was Bermudas’ personal vehicle, Agredano said, but it was customized for her work, with the steering on the right side to facilitate mailbox delivery.
