Mequon woman hurt in rollover crash in English countryside



UNITED KINGDOM (WITI) -- A 60-year-old Mequon woman, identified as Jane Lukic, was seriously hurt after her rental car rolled some 150 meters or nearly 500 feet down the side of one of the steepest roads in England. It eventually came to rest on its side. That's according to The Westmorland Gazette, a newspaper in western England.

The wreck happened in central England (west of Ambleside) on Friday afternoon, August 30th.

The Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team descended into the steep terrain of a mountain pass in Cumbria, England and worked to free the woman from her car -- and then evacuate her to a point from where she was winched into a helicopter. She was then flown to a hospital in Newcastle that specializes in treating people with head injuries.



The Westmorland Gazette reports both air bags in the rental car had deployed -- which probably helped protect the Mequon woman.

The road where the wreck took place was apparently closed for four hours.

On Wednesday, September 4th, FOX6 News spoke with Chris Kegel, who is the owner of Wheel & Sprocket and also Lukic's ex-wife. Kegel calls Lukic his best friend.

"What they thought was she blew a tire or somehow lost control, veered to the right to sort of stay away from the cliff, bounced off the cliff, bounced off a large rock, and then rolled over," Kegel said.

Kegel says Lukic was in England visiting friends. He says she was hanging upside down in her vehicle when nearby hikers called emergency responders.

"They were able to take the coordinates and call them in for emergency and they helicoptered in to get her and they had to cut the car apart in order to get her out. She broke her arm, she had a large gash in her head, and she`s just black and blue and sore and every muscle and every joint in her body is just...and she`s suffering," Kegel said.

Still, her family, including her four children she has with Kegel are amazed and grateful she even survived.

"It's a miracle," Kegel said.

Lukic's family hopes she can fly home as early as next week. They say given her condition, she would like to get home as soon as possible.



Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.