Woman, Dog Struck By Jeep Lucky To Be Alive; 'Seeing The Video, I Can't Believe I'm Still Here'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman walking her puppy is slammed to the street by a car, her dog caught under the vehicle in the crosswalk. Miraculously, they both survived.
CBS 2's Steven Graves reports the woman has a message for the driver, and for you at home.
"He's my whole world," Samantha Basar said of her rescue dog, Dobbs..
They were close before, but now their bond is even tighter after surviving that collision in Humboldt Park.
"It's a miracle," said Basar. "Seeing the video, I can't believe that I'm still here."
The two were just taking a walk last week, and security video from a liquor store shows them enter a crosswalk at Campbell and Division.
A driver of Jeep Cherokee stops and then suddenly drives forward, sending Samantha flying into the intersection.
"I felt like I got hit by a 300 pound linebacker."
Dobbs looks like he's run over by a wheel but gets back up and runs off.
She and some good Samaritans found Dobbs some blocks away. The driver ran after her, too and apologized, but no explanation as to why she did this.
"Maybe she just didn't see me, I was in her blind spot," said Basar.
Samantha just wants people to pay attention. "The city is opening up. It's summer," she said.
In 2018, there were more than 1,500 pedestrian/vehicle accidents in the city. In 2019, about the same. Last year, saw 1,100. This year we're at 800.
Samantha is speaking up for one big reason.
"My best friend was killed four years ago in a similar situation like this. He was a pedestrian, struck by a car. It's just really unfortunate these things continue to happen."
But thankfully this is just a cautionary tale. Mom and puppy are now working on some issues.
"We are working through walking through crosswalks."
Both are just happy to have each other.
Samantha did make a police report, but Chicago police have not told us whether that driver of the Jeep was cited.