Daily News e-Edition
Evening e-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
Daily News e-Edition
Evening e-Edition
Trending:
Marvel movie actress and stuntwoman Carrie Bernans said she is in a lot of pain but on the mend after an out-of-control driver plowed into a food truck that toppled over on a Manhattan street and pinned her underneath in the early hours of the new year.
“I’m in so much pain and I still can’t even really walk right now,” Bernans, 29, said in an Instagram message from her hospital bed, as machines whirred and beeped in the background.
“I’m just really hurting, but I know God is good and God heals. It’s just a matter of time.”
Bernans’ Midtown ordeal was unlike anything the movie maven has encountered on the action-packed sets of Marvel’s “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Endgame” or the chart-topping new release of “The Color Purple.”
New Year’s Eve revelers still filled the streets when Bernans and a friend sought shelter behind a halal truck on W. 34th St. near Ninth Ave. about 1:45 a.m. Monday as Mohamed Alaouie’s BMW SUV careened out of control toward them, according to cops and witnesses.
Bernans’ friend, former gymnast Julie Hansson, a marketing agent for athletes and entertainers, said she and Bernans went behind the food truck to seek cover.
“A car was trying to get away from the cops chasing him,” Hansson wrote in her own hospital bed Instagram post. “He was recklessly driving into other cars and we were hiding behind a food truck.”
She said the car drove “full speed into the truck” and knocked her and Bernans to the ground, where they lay unconscious. A third woman with them who was not struck helped them, she added.
Hansson’s post was accompanied by pictures of her wearing a neck brace below her bloodied face.
But it was Bernans who got the worst of it. Several of her bones were broken and several teeth were chipped in the crash, grisly photos posted on social media show.
The new mother’s family posted a GoFundMe page soliciting donations to pay for medical bills, physical rehabilitation and child care to help with her 8-month-old baby.
She said she is unable to breastfeed her little baby boy, who was not with her at the time of the incident.
“He was safe in a warm hotel room with family,” she said in the post.
Despite the setback, she maintained a positive attitude
“Thankfully my surgery went well. I had to get anesthesia,” Bernans said. “My teeth looked cracked up, but it’s OK, it’s just cosmetic. It’ll get better.”
“I haven’t really gotten no sleep in a long, long time,” she said in another video. “I’ve been pumping milk for my baby and stuff, because I care about him. My sister and family have driven out to help with him. But I just want to say thank you. Your prayers are felt.”
Alaouie, 44, is facing multiple counts of assault and attempted murder of a police officer, as well as reckless driving and drug possession charges.
New Year’s Eve revelers were walking down 33rd St. near Seventh Ave. when they saw Alaouie in the idling SUV arguing and allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.
Witnesses tried to get him to stop but when he wouldn’t, they flagged down police, who ordered him to get out of the SUV.
“F–k this s–t!” Alaouie screamed before throwing the SUV into drive and speeding off down 33rd St., making an illegal turn onto Seventh Ave. and nearly striking several officers, according to cops.
Alaouie drove down W. 34th St., struck the halal truck and kept on going for another block, driving both in the street and on the sidewalk before slamming into a sidewalk shed for a chicken restaurant.
During the crazed drive, he struck a taxicab that struck another taxicab heading in the other direction and finally came to a stop against a parked pickup truck and an unoccupied van.
Six pedestrians, including Bernans, her friend and three police officers, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Alaouie was taken to Bellevue Hospital, as well. His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Tuesday evening.
His girlfriend managed to get out of the SUV during the chaos and wasn’t injured, cops said.
Bernans’ mother posted updates about her daughter.
“Thank you all for reaching out, praying, calling, sending flowers, cards, donations, etc,” read the post. “This is a lot for us to deal with right now.
“Good news, the driver is in jail,” the mother added. “The police are offering protection to Carrie at the hospital while doctors help her get better. She feels your love.”
Friends and fans sent get-well messages in response.
“This is how she will look again,” Angelo Maldonado wrote next to a glamorous photo of Bernans wearing a tan suit. “A beautiful soul in every sense of the word!”
“When I found out I had to start another round of chemotherapy in 2021, Carrie was one of the first people to support me in my journey, in ways that I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for,” posted Instagram user @thekellejones.
Copyright © 2024 New York Daily News