Woodside woman saved by her car -- but she had to be extracted from it Woodside woman saved by her car -- but she had to be extracted from it (January 11, 2006)

Gail Reed of Woodside sustained a cracked thigh bone on New Year's morning after an oak tree broke into three pieces and fell on her 1985 Mercedes Benz while in her driveway on Old La Honda Road, trapping her inside.

An 8-inch diameter branch drove through the windshield and pinned her leg while the rest of the tree pummeled the car but did not break through, said Ms. Reed. Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life extraction tool to free her. The car was totaled.

"There's no question in my mind that it was driving an old Mercedes that made the difference as to whether I lived or died," she said.

The operation to free her, complicated by the presence of live downed electrical wires, took about 45 minutes, said Battalion Chief Rick Lombardo of the Woodside Fire Protection District.

Ms. Reed was taken to Stanford Hospital, released after three days, and will be using a walker for several weeks, she said.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.