ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A Lake Nona woman is recovering from a concussion after she said a piece of debris fell from Interstate 4 and hit her in the head last Tuesday.
Laurie O’Toole said she and her husband were heading to a Magic game in downtown Orlando.
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“We were walking in this direction toward the arena,” said Tom O’Toole, Laurie’s husband.
The couple said a large commercial roll of wrap fell from I-4 between Central Boulevard and Washington Street in downtown Orlando as they walked along the Garland Avenue sidewalk.
“As soon as we hit the sidewalk, this fell off the interstate and hit her in the head,” Tom O’Toole said. “She didn’t fall to the ground, but she was like dazed and I was like, ‘Are you alright?’”
His wife said it was scary and it all happened so fast.
“I’m like, ‘What was that?’” Laurie O’Toole said. “It hit me and my head jerked back really fast.”
The couple said the incident, which happened around 6:50pm on March 22, landed Laurie O’Toole in the hospital. She said she’s now recovering from a head injury.
“They told me they me I had a concussion. They did a CT scan,” Laurie O’Toole said.
She said they filed an injury claims report with the Florida Department of Transportation and are hoping to see change and get results.
The couple hopes by sharing their story they’ll be able to see more safeguards in the busy downtown Orlando.
“If they can put something there because anything can happen. If it’s not an object, what if it’s a car accident and they came over?” Tom O’Toole said.
This comes as the City of Orlando plans to transform the downtown space under I-4 between Church and Washington streets into an urban community park.
“While we don’t have specifics to share at this time, certainly every measure will be taken within the design to ensure the safety of all visitors to the community space that is developed underneath I-4,” a city spokesperson said when asked what’s being done to keep people safe.
The O’Tooles said as season pass holders, they are not walking that way to a Magic game anymore.
News 6 reached out to a FDOT spokesperson who said the department is sorry to hear about the incident and the injury and are currently reviewing the details of this matter.