When Peter Morano recalls the terrifying car accident, he refers to it as the white bomb.
On Monday morning, Morano was driving on Butterfield Road in Aurora when his windshield was struck by an explosion of snow and ice. As a semi-truck trailer drove in the opposite direction below an overpass, a large block of ice flew off the top and torpedoed directly into Morano's windshield.
"The sheet of ice hit directly on the windshield and sprayed glass into my face," said Morano, who is now recovering at home.
"I was never more scared in my life. There was blood everywhere, pouring from my head, nose and my eye. I was scared that I was losing so much blood I was going to die."
The truck driver sped from the accident scene, but other motorists stopped and came to Morano's aid. He was taken to Mercy Hospital in Aurora, where he underwent surgery and was discharged on Tuesday.
Morano's face is now covered in stitches that stretch from the bridge of his nose across his left eyelid and out to the corner of his eye.
His nose was smashed, broken in several pieces and required two-hour surgery to be reconstructed. The bone below his left eye socket, known as the orbital, was also shattered, Morano said. Several tiny shards of glass that fell into his left eye cut his lid and tore his iris. Surgeons opened the left eye to remove the glass, but now that eye is bloodied and sealed shut. Doctors said his vision may be damaged permanently. Remarkably, though his right eye was bruised, it was not seriously injured.
Currently there are no laws in Illinois requiring motorists to clean snow and ice off their cars or trucks. But, Morano's wife, Debbie, believes trucking companies should enact new rules that require drivers to clean the tops of their trucks before hitting the roads.
With forecasts predicting a major snowstorm Wednesday night, Morano said drawing attention to the incident is even more crucial.
"There need to be more awareness of this," she said. "We're grateful that the injuries weren't worse. But if things don't change, someone is going to get killed."
-- Margaret Ramirez
