A nurse refused to let a massive 100-vehicle pile-up that killed six people on an icy Texas highway keep her from her job. Rebecca Benson was on her way to Cook Children's Medical Center in downtown Fort Worth when she hit a patch of black ice and spun out of control. While she managed to briefly regain control of her car, she couldn't stop and slammed into a semi-truck and car hauler in front of her.
"As soon as I hit that bridge, [there was] black ice. My car started to spin out a little bit, but nothing crazy, and so I was adjusted," Benson said in an interview with ABC's World News Tonight. "While I was coming around the corner, I see the cars in front of me. I'm trying to not spin out and to figure out if I can stop. I mean, my foot was as close to going through the floorboard as it possibly could be. And I realized that there's no stopping. So, there was a Coca-Cola semi and a car hauler semi that had kind of made almost like a triangle. So, I pointed the car there and prayed to God that I would be okay, and that's when I hit them."
While she was relatively unharmed by the initial impact, she looked behind and braced herself as other drivers lost control and started crashing around her.
"I looked in my rearview mirror and can see all of these cars heading towards me. So I think that was the scariest part, knowing that I survived this part but now the chances of me getting completely smashed by all the cars and semis behind me," Benson said.
She remained trapped in her vehicle until somebody found her and managed to open the trunk. Benson was able to crawl through her mangled car and called a co-worker who was stuck in traffic nearby.
She declined medical attention at the scene and hitched a ride to work.
"So I talked to one of the police officers, I was like, 'Can I leave my car here and go hitch a ride with my co-worker?' So, I hopped the barrier, literally walked up the highway down to him," Benson said.
After working a half shift at the hospital, Benson's husband told her she should get herself checked out.
"I have neck pain, shoulder pain, and my left elbow is bruised to the high-heavens and, you know, typical aches and pains that you would have. But I am unbelievably blessed," she said.
Officials said that six people died in the massive crash, and 36 people were transported to the hospital with injuries.
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