"Why was I spared?": Woman grateful to be alive after crash that killed Waltham officer, utility worker
WALTHAM - Mariccor Pawar was on the way to pick her daughter up from school Wednesday afternoon when she found herself in a line of cars along Totten Pond Road.
There was utility work happening on the right shoulder and cars were slowing down as they approached the work zone. Pawar, a mother of two, saw a police officer working detail and gave him a wave.
Seconds later, she said, her car was hit from behind, her head slammed against her head rest, and her airbags went off. Pawar said she blacked out from the impact but when she came too, she heard someone yelling to call 911.
When she got out of her car, she saw a white truck had slammed into the work zone and two people, later identified as Officer Paul Tracey and utility worker Roderick Jackson, were laying on the ground.
Pawar said in the days since the crash she's been flooded with questions and guilt.
"I am lucky and blessed, but there is also the guilty feeling," said Pawar. "Why was I spared? Could I have done something better? Now that I know who they are and their names, I have seen the faces of their family members on TV, it's just unimaginable."
Pawar has injuries to the head, neck and back but says she is "counting her blessings." She was taken to the hospital after the crash but released hours later.