A 22-year-old Irish female is currently in a dire condition in hospital, following a serious brain injury she sustained in a car accident in Italy on Sunday, October 6th. The incident occurred on Andrea Doria avenue in Catania, located in the southeast of Sicily, according to Catania’s local constabulary. The woman was jogging at a pedestrian crossing when she was hit by a Smart car, driven by a male in his twenties.
Originally, she was moved to a hospital in the vicinity, but has since been relocated to Catania’s San Marco hospital, where she underwent surgery. The woman’s situation, although life-threatening, has been described as stable whilst she remains under strict observation in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was abreast of the incident, and will be providing diplomatic support. The department refrained from offering specific details about individual cases in line with its standard procedure.
According to Inspector Giovanni Oliva of the Catania Police Department, the driver involved was quick to assist the injured woman and alerted the emergency services. He informed the police that he frequently travels at his usual route that he failed to notice the pedestrian on the road. A female passenger who was also in the vehicle escaped the incident unharmed.
Public prosecutors were called upon to probe into the case. Comparably, several other traffic-related accidents have happened in the same stretch of Andrea Doria Avenue, a 6km business route connecting the coastal district of Ognina with the commercial hub of Misterbianco. It ended fatally for local student, Chiara Adorno, 18, who died in a crash on the same road in November last year.