COTTLEVILLE, Mo. — An O’Fallon woman is in the hospital in critical condition Monday after she was hit by a car at a St. Patrick’s Day event in Cottleville on Saturday.
Cottleville police say upwards of 20,000 people descended on their little city for St. Patrick’s Day festivities at various bars and restaurants on Saturday.
“This was the first time that we've had a nice day in a while. I'm sure that the weather played a big part in the large crowd that showed up,” Cottleville Police Chief David McCune said.
McCune says just before 10 p.m., as the day was winding down they received a call that a woman had been hit by a car on Highway N.
“They were on the shoulder of the highway there. From what we can tell very close to the concrete wall on the bridge. The vehicle just came up behind them, left the roadway, according to the Highway Patrol report, and hit the pedestrian from behind,” McCune said.
That pedestrian was 36-year-old Lindsay Jaco.
Police say a 59-year-old woman hit her and she was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
“It could have been completely avoided if the person did not get behind the wheel,” Jaco’s sister Amanda Cowee said.
Cowee says receiving the call that she had been rushed to the hospital was a nightmare.
“A state of panic. You never want to get a call like that. It's my baby sister and it was hard,” she said through her tears as she talked about the incident at the hospital.
Cowee says Lindsay and a couple of her friends were just out enjoying St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and were walking back from Bemo’s on the side of Highway N when her life changed forever.
“Just walking back to one of her friend's houses. They live close by. That's when she got hit by a car (by) a drunk driver. They were arrested. Now, she's fighting for her life,” Cowee said.
She has a fractured skull and has already had brain surgery. While she is still in critical condition, she’s made some improvements that give her family hope including talking, making small movements and being able to breathe on her own.
“We're all behind her, rooting for her. She's got a lot of support from friends and family. She had two little kids, she's fighting for them,” Cowee said.
The family said they also hope the area where this happened can be improved possibly with better lighting and safer space for pedestrians to cross the bridge.
“Cottleville needs to do better hosting big events like this,” Cowee said.
McCune said they’re looking into changes they can make.
“We close the roads during the day for the run, we have officers stationed at different locations while the road is closed. In the years past, we have not closed the road. Even when we had the parade, the roads opened at 4 p.m. when the parade was over. It's something that we're looking at and if we can find it beneficial, and we think that it'll work, we'll make that change,” McCune said.
He also said the area could use more lighting and possibly more space for pedestrians.
“We were the first community to allow golf carts (to) drive up and down the shoulder. We put in sidewalks recently for the golf cart usage. One of the things we could probably look at is maybe a pedestrian bridge,” McCune said.
There is a GoFundMe to assist with Jaco's medical expenses, if you’d like to help click here.
"Please keep praying for my sister," Cowee said.