Md. College Student Survives Plunge Off Bay Bridge After Triple-Vehicle Crash
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- She didn't want to die. We're hearing from the Calvert County woman who survived Friday night's bizarre accident on the Bay Bridge that sent her car plummeting down four stories into the water.
Kai Jackson reports the victim's story is amazing to hear and the 911 calls for help are chilling.
A near fatal accident on the eastbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Friday has drivers on edge and a woman telling WJZ an amazing story of survival.
"I got one good scream in and after that scream, the car hit the water," said Morgan Lake.
"A car just went over the edge into the water," said a 911 call Friday.
Now 911 tapes of the near-fatal crash have been released. A number of people called 911 to report the accident and get help for the victim.
"A truck just pushed a car over the bridge," said one caller.
"Over the bridge?" replied the operator.
"Over the bridge!" the caller responded.
Twenty-two-year-old Morgan Lake of Sunderland (Calvert County) says a tractor trailer hit her car from the rear, sending her Chrysler Sebring careening over the bridge's jersey wall.
"It was hit by an 18-wheeler really badly and the 18-wheeler just pushed it right over the wall," a caller said.
Lake's car plunged 40 feet below into the Chesapeake Bay. A crane later pulled the wreckage from the water.
"Then I felt the drowning sensation; I felt like I was drowning and I didn't want to," Lake said.
She says her instinct to survive took over. She got out of the car and swam to the surface.
"As soon as I got to the surface, I took five really deep breaths of air," she said.
Lake is thankful to be alive; her family is also thankful.
"I am so grateful that not only is she here with us, she is whole," said her mother, Melanie Lake.
According to our media partners at the Baltimore Sun, AAA is calling for a federal investigation into this crash, questioning the safety barriers that are meant to keep vehicles on the bridge.
There was another accident on the bridge Monday; click here to read about the latest accident.
