Wife grateful that husband pushed her out of way when car slammed into Crystal Lake restaurant
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (CBS) -- A wife is calling her husband a hero after she saved her life when a car plowed into the restaurant where they were eating in Crystal Lake.
Michael Zaitz pushed his wife, Danae, out of harm's way when the car smashed into the Buffalo Wings & Rings at 1520 Carlemont Dr. in Crystal Lake Thursday evening. But he himself was then pinned underneath the car.
He is still hospitalized.
Danae Zaitz told us Friday night that she is grateful her husband is still alive.
"If he wouldn't have pushed me, it would have been me, and I've been severely injured from my knees down two years ago – so who knows what this would have done to me?" said Danae Zaitz. "He's my hero. That Foo Fighters song, 'There Goes My Hero' – I think that's going to be my new anthem."
Michael Zaitz ended up breaking his leg, and received six stitches on his left hand. But doctors cannot perform surgery on his leg until the swelling goes down.
A total of four customers were injured in the crash. Police said a Nissan Altima was traveling westbound in the parking lot and for unknown reasons, when attempting to park, the driver came up over a sidewalk and stuck the building.