Woman Struck by Car in Front of Jewel-Osco in South Elmhurst

The condition of a woman struck by a car near the Jewel-Osco in south Elmhurst is unknown as of Saturday evening, but an eye witness at the scene said her injuries appeared to be very severe.

Police were still at the scene, at Van Buren and York Road, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Officers, who were recreating the accident that occurred at about 2:40 p.m., shared very little information, other than that one person was taken to the hospital.

Elmhurst resident Mark Vorel was driving east on Van Buren, preparing to turn north onto York, when he saw an older woman and a teenage boy preparing to step off the sidewalk on the southwest corner of the intersection, next to the Jewel plaza.

The woman, who appeared to Vorel to be the age of a grandmother, was walking slightly ahead of the boy, he said.

"I was looking to turn, and I saw the grandmother walking into the street. Then, I saw this red car coming (southbound on York) and I thought, oh my God. She's going to hit them—and boom."

Vorel said the driver of the small red sedan was a young female, and he thinks she was traveling at the normal speed of traffic on York, which is 30 miles per hour, when she hit the woman. He said the woman was initially hit on her lower body and then thrown onto the hood. She hit the windshield with her head and the impact sent her airborne, he said.

"I basically looked back to the right and she was in the air," Vorel said. "I just thought, oh my God. I immediately grabbed my phone and called 911."

Vorel said the woman was unconscious and bleeding, but breathing. Another driver pulled over and put a blanket over her. The teenage boy was "just kind of sitting there, in shock," he said.

He said the young woman who was driving the vehicle that hit her also appeared to be in shock.

Police at the scene said they did not know the condition of the woman, but that she was taken to Loyola. They would not confirm whether a second person was taken to the hospital.

"I think the boy was taken also, because there were two ambulances here. I believe they took him, too," Vorel said.

He didn't know if the boy was injured.

"He was far enough behind her that he may have gotten brushed by the car," he said.

Vorel and two other witnesses were interviewed by police.

"You're just in disbelief, thinking, 'Did I just see that happen?' " he said.

He said the intersection has always been a hazard, for shoppers and students who cross there to get to Bryan Middle School.

"If they could have a light over here, it would be so much easier for people pulling out of Jewel, all the kids crossing here to go to Bryan. And this island—I can't imagine why they don't tear that thing down," he said of the median just north of the intersection. "You can't see around it."

"We just have to keep praying that she'll be OK," Vorel's wife, Patty, said.

This story will be updated when more information becomes available.