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Cranbrook woman lucky to be alive after rock flies through windshield, exits back window

Chelsea Cross hopes her story will help make people more aware to tie their loads down
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Pictured is Chelsea Cross’ work vehicle, which had a rock fly through the windshield and exit the back window on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Submitted file)

Chelsea Cross says she is lucky to be alive after a harrowing incident last week, when a large rock flew out of the back of a pickup truck and into her front windshield on the highway near Cranbrook.

Cross was travelling home from work in Fernie on Friday afternoon (Jan. 28). As she approached the highway junction that either takes you towards Invermere, or Cranbrook, she continued toward her Cranbrook destination. While travelling near the overpass, she noticed a truck in the opposing lane of traffic, with cardboard flying out of the truck bed.

“I turned towards the shoulder to avoid the cardboard and all of a sudden I just heard this loud noise, and glass was everywhere,” Cross recalled. “I wasn’t even sure what had happened, so I pulled over to the shoulder, and put my hazard lights on. Something had obviously come through the window - there was a huge hole in the windshield and glass was everywhere. I was in shock.”

Cross says that one man pulled over to help and asked if she was okay. Cross got out of the vehicle unsure if she, herself, was injured.

“I asked him, I’m not bleeding am I?” Cross said. “He said no, and that a rock had flown through my windshield.”

She says that she walked around the vehicle to survey the damage, and that’s when she realized the extent of it.

The rock busted her rearview mirror into pieces, gouged a cut into the ceiling of the upholstery, and exited out the back window.

“The guy saw the rock and grabbed it, it was bigger than his hands. I wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but the only thing that made sense was the rock had been a paper weight for that cardboard.”

Cross was travelling in her company’s vehicle, so she called them to get a tow truck. She also called her husband to come pick her up, and she said he was furious. He looked around the area for any evidence, with no luck.

Cross also called ICBC, who advised her that filing a police report wouldn’t do much.

“Because I don’t know who did it, they said there’s no point in filing a report,” Cross said. “The damage is currently being assessed but it looks like our company will have to pay the deductible.”

She said she’s not so worried about the vehicle, but more-so, what could have happened had her toddler been in the car, or had the rock hit the windshield at a slightly different angle.

“People need to tie their stuff down. I think maybe some people have a bad habit of just thinking it will be fine. It was a windy day,” Cross said. “People need to be conscious of their contents and either tie them down, or get a cover. I just hope people can learn from this. It could have been so much worse.

“My husband could have been a widow, and would have had to explain that to my two-year-old.”



corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com

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28028682_web1_220203-CDT-Rock-Wildshield-a_1
Pictured is Chelsea Cross’ work vehicle, which had a rock fly through the windshield and exit the back window on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Submitted file)
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Pictured is the rock that flew through the windshield of a Cranbrook woman’s car, and exited the back window, on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Submitted file)
28028682_web1_220203-CDT-Rock-Wildshield-a_3
Pictured is Chelsea Cross’ work vehicle, which had a rock fly through the windshield and exit the back window on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Submitted file)


Corey Bullock

About the Author: Corey Bullock

Corey Bullock is a multimedia journalist and writer who grew up in Burlington, Ontario.
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