By Kathy Daley
HORTONVILLE — February 11, 2011 — Those who witnessed Monday’s accident and those who rushed to the scene say it’s nothing short of a miracle that Karen Zadubara and her two children walked away with only minor injuries.
Callicoon resident Zadubara was headed home on Route 17B at about 2 p.m. when, about 25 feet from the North Branch Road, she lost control of her Subaru Outback.
The car hit the guardrail, which propelled the vehicle down a 75 foot embankment. On its way down, the Subaru overturned three times, finally landing on its side in the woods just short of the river.
“The water there is 10 to 15 feet deep,” said Sgt. Luis Alvarez of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s office. “If that car slid down into the water, it would have sunk right away. And in this cold…”
He didn’t need to finish his sentence.
Alvarez, who is the School Resource Officer for Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington, got the call at the school soon after the accident. He was there in a few minutes, heading down the slick, snowy embankment using ropes, as did firemen from Hortonville and Callicoon fire departments.
“The little kids were shocked and scared, they were crying, but they were okay,” said Alvarez. “I am so grateful they all came through it alright.”
Karen Zadubara praised all those who helped her. “Everyone was wonderful. I can’t commend our small town enough,” she said. “Many of them know me and my husband and children, and they responded to us as fathers, as neighbors, as community people.”
Zadubara could not explain what sent her car off the road: “I just don’t know. That’s all I can say.”
According to Alvarez, police in the past few years have responded to several accidents at that area of 17B between Hortonville and Callicoon. They are mystified as to what happens there that catches drivers off guard.” .
“Maybe (Zadubara) hit some ice, maybe it was the wind,” he said.
The sergeant said the car’s tires were brand new, there appeared to be no mechanical malfunction, and the driver was not talking on a cellphone.
As for Zadubara, the fact that she and her children escaped in one piece leaves her feeling shocked and grateful.
“To see my children okay and me okay after that? Nothing prepares you for this,” she said..