Grafton woman laments lost home after car slams into living room Wednesday
GRAFTON — Christine McNamara and her husband, John, were having an afternoon like any other at their home on Millbury Street Wednesday. She had just baked apple crisp.
Then they heard a bang coming from the back of the house.
Startled, McNamara walked toward where the sound came from, thinking a tree had fallen on the house or perhaps a severe car accident on the busy intersection of Providence Road and Millbury Street.
When she opened the door to look through the back of the house, where there once was a room instead was a car.
A Lexus sedan had slammed into the ranch-style house at 40 Millbury St. causing extensive damage.
"I just ran back into the house and called 911," she said.
A car was traveling south on Providence Road about 4 p.m. when the driver lost control and swerved off the road and into the rear of the house, which is on a corner lot.
Firefighters responding to the scene freed the driver of the sedan through the car's rear hatch and the driver was transported to a local hospital.
Two passengers and a pet were also in the car; they were unharmed.
The fire department used heavy equipment to pull the car away from the house. Firefighters then helped stabilize the structure.
While the cause of the crash is under investigation, McNamara was told her house where she had lived for 20 years was not safe to live in anymore.
The morning after, she remembers the moment when she was told that the house would most likely be lost.
“Our heart, blood, sweat and tears went into this house,” said an emotional McNamara. “We both did the shingling on the house.
“It’s very difficult for us.”
McNamara’s daughter, Victoria Hatfield, who had moved out only a few months before the accident, was also at the house Thursday, hoping to collect some of her belongings.
She added that her mother and stepfather, who were living at the home, took great care and pride in the house. Most recently they had also redone their bathroom.
“I’m very overwhelmed,” said Hatfield as tears rolled off her cheeks and onto her shirt. “It’s my childhood home.”
As insurance adjustors evaluate the incident and the damage in the coming weeks, McNamara is living in a hotel with her husband.
The couple has found support from family, friends and also strangers, who have reached out to help her through the local Buy Nothing group, an online community where people give items to one another without expecting payment in return.
No clear plan is in sight for McNamara for the time being.
“I got out of work early, came home, made my husband apple crisp,” said McNamara. “We were going to have some fresh apple crisp.
“Now it’s still sitting on my stove.
“Life changes in a matter of minutes.”
The cause of the accident remains under investigation by Grafton police. Calls to the department were not immediately returned.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Car slams into house on Millbury Street in Grafton
