ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis woman says she is lucky to be alive after she was caught in a blizzard and four semitractor-trailers plowed into her car.
Blaire Hamilton, 28, shared several pictures of her mangled Honda Civic with KTVI, telling a story of what she called a “pure miracle.”
“I’m not sure how I survived,” she said Tuesday.
On April 13, Hamilton was on a performing tour from Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver when she was caught in a blizzard where the conditions were a complete whiteout.
She said she slowed down, before coming to a complete stop on westbound I-80 until she felt the impact, not once but several times.
“It was rapid fire, hit five times in a row, with the last one being the worst,” Hamilton described.
Hamilton’s car was hit on all sides of her car except for the front.
Her car flipped a few times before landing upright.
“I’m very small, I’m 5 feet tall and probably give or take 120 pounds and I already sit within a few inches from the wheel,” she said, “and because I was mostly T-boned on both sides, my front airbags didn’t go off so I was able to crawl out and I am very flexible and I had to use that in the moment.”
Because of the bad weather, Hamilton said it was an hour before paramedics could get to the scene.
“I suffered a concussion, muscular, neck and back injuries, I had multiple cuts, I have a knee injury where the swelling is going down but there is quite a bit of bruising,” Hamilton described as she showed her bruises.
Hamilton is a professional dancer and performer by trade. All of her costumes and props she had in the car were destroyed.
She said the recent injuries are preventing her from keeping up with her passion.
“My end goal was to live on the road and tour full time but also to make it out to California to pursue larger dreams,” she said.
Hamilton added that she will achieve that dream no matter what, because what she hasn’t lost is faith in humanity and community support.
“Through just being open and vulnerable with other people I was able to make these really strong connections which have helped me,” Hamilton went on to say, “these people have literally boosted me up to help me continue and I think that’s so special.”
Hamilton said that she will be needing multiple surgeries on her knee.
Friends have helped her set up a GoFundMe account to help with her medical bills.