Woman ‘saved by the belt’ after truck strikes vehicle

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

CANFIELD

Nearly everyone knows that wearing a seat belt greatly increases the odds of surviving a serious car accident, and Jessica D. Dalton’s story goes a long way toward reinforcing that notion.

“Take that extra minute and put it on,” advised the Cortland woman, whose life likely was saved when she decided to do just that before she was in an accident May 1 on state Route 11 in Canfield Township.

As a result, Dalton received a proclamation and was honored during a brief ceremony Friday afternoon at the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Canfield Post on South Broad Street for her decision to buckle up that day.

Dalton, a licensed practical nurse, was driving north on Route 11 to return home from work when a commercial truck blew a tire, drove into her lane and struck her vehicle near an overpass between the U.S. Route 224 and Mahoning Avenue exits, she recalled. Consequently, she suffered serious, nonlife-threatening injuries that included a broken scapula, for which she received rehabilitation therapy, said Dalton, who was alone in the car when the accident occurred.

After the truck struck Dalton’s car, her vehicle hit a guardrail, then rolled several times before coming to rest on its driver’s side, causing her to be trapped, noted Lt. Brad Bucey of the Canfield Post. After that, authorities used a device to cut open the vehicle and extract her from the wreckage, Bucey said.

“I just tried to keep her calm,” remembered Trooper Daniel DeLuca of the Canfield Post, who was one of the first investigators on the scene and who stayed with Dalton until emergency medical personnel arrived, after which she was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

All too often, however, the patrol responds to vehicular accidents that likely would have been far less serious had the occupants been buckled up, DeLuca said, adding that the driver who hit Dalton was treated for moderate injuries.

Dalton, who routinely wears a seat belt, also received two license-plate brackets that bear the inscription “I was saved by the belt.”

Joining Dalton for the occasion were her son, Kyaiden, 4, and her boyfriend, Shawn Beardsley.