RICHMOND (KRON) – An East Bay woman is left with broken ribs, spine and chest fractures after she was hit by a car speeding away from Richmond police during an attempted traffic stop.

The victim, Nickole McDaniels, says she spent 10 days in the hospital and now she’s finally back home recovering.

“Upon looking at the car I just like, it looked like somebody was supposed to be dead,”  said McDaniels.

This all happened before Christmas while she was on her way to see her niece.

Later that day she was supposed to catch a flight to see her daughter, but in an instant, everything changed.

“It’s just like everything changed in just one intersection. Just going through an intersection. I just remember the light being green and next thing I know people are trying to pry me out of my car.”

Moments before the crash on Dec. 22, Nickole McDaniels worked the graveyard shift at her job and got off early.

She was supposed to spend the holiday with her mother and 8-year-old daughter in Kansas City.

Instead, she wound up in the hospital.

“The next day I found out I was , there was a police chase. They said someone was evading the police at about 70 mph in a truck and they ran a red light and they called it, T-boned my car.”

Richmond police say they tried stopping the suspect, Calixto Carillo Garcia, after receiving reports of a drunk driver nearby. 

Police say Garcia took off, ran a red light and later crashed into McDaniels’ car.

 “It didn’t look like anyone was supposed to come out of that car alive. It was really scary.”

Days later, McDaniels went to the tow yard to pick up her car.

She learned it was totaled and everything inside, including her purse, wallet, rent money and Christmas presents were gone.

In the same time period, she also learned she was no longer covered by medical insurance.

“I found out that my insurance had lapsed a couple of months ago. I hadn’t found out until I was in the hospital,” McDaniels said.

Now the victim faces a long road to recovery and mounting medical bills.

However, following the bad string of luck for McDaniels, the victim said she’s thankful for her bosses as they stepped in and helped pay her rent for the month. 

If you’d like to help McDaniels a GoFundMe page has been set up.

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