Teacher Hurt When Tree Smashes Parked Car In Chelsea
CHELSEA (CBS) -- A Somerville man who was eating breakfast in his parked car was injured when a large tree limb fell and smashed the roof of the vehicle.
The limb fell just before 7:45 a.m. Monday, in a parking lot across from the Clark Avenue School on Crescent Avenue, landing right across the middle of the top of the car.
Close call for Somerville man after tree crashes down on his car. He was behind wheel eating breakfast. Says "I feel lucky." Minor injuries pic.twitter.com/YPnlbg4mnv
— David Robichaud (@RobiBSU) May 15, 2017
Matthew Bennington, a 37-year-old teacher at the Clark Avenue School, was trapped inside the car by the limb. First responders from the Chelsea Fire Department came to his rescue.
He suffered non-life-threatening head injuries and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was believed to have a concussion because he was vomiting at the scene.
"I feel very lucky, I feel very well taken care of, and that's all I am going to say right now," said Bennington to reporters as he returned home from the hospital Monday afternoon.
Bennington's friend, Garth Griffin, continued to speak on his behalf.
"He felt very lucky that people were there to help him out and very grateful to the folks who were available to get the tree off the car," Griffin said.
He added, "it could have been much worse."
It wasn't yet clear what caused the tree to fall, but Chelsea Fire noted that there was a lot of construction work related to the Silver Line happening nearby. Officials are calling the incident an accident, though.
The smashed car was towed from the scene, and the Department of Public Works was called to deal with the tree.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports