Woman has been seriously injured in a 'freak accident' which left her stuck between cars

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) – A Tennessee woman was hospitalized in critical condition after she was pinned between two cars in what police are calling a “freak accident.”

The Murfreesboro Police Department says the incident happened just before 3 p.m. Monday in the LongHorn Steakhouse parking lot at The Avenue Mall, WSMV reports.

Officers say a man who uses a wheelchair was getting into a Honda CRV that had been modified to be used as a postal delivery vehicle. That means he had accelerator and brake pedals on the driver and passenger side of the vehicle.

Police say a woman in the driver’s seat of the Honda was backing out of a parking spot to allow the man to get into the passenger seat. Because the man had recently suffered a stroke and had no sensation on his left side, another woman was helping him.

As the man got into the passenger seat, officers say he accidentally hit the gas pedal, which caused the Honda to reverse, spin “out of control” and hit another vehicle.

The woman who helped the man into the Honda was pinned between the two vehicles.

Police say the “out of control vehicle” continued to reverse and hit two other cars before coming to a stop.

The woman who was trapped was taken to St. Thomas Rutherford, but was later transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition.

The woman in the driver’s seat and the man were not injured.

Police say the incident is being investigated by the department’s fatal crash team.