Belmont woman injured in Peabody crash

PEABODY – Thirty-eight-year-old Katherine Sherman of Belmont was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital and treated for severe internal injuries Monday morning after crashing her vehicle into a utility pole on Main Street in Peabody.Fire Lieutenant Bob Caruso said Sherman was traveling from downtown Peabody toward Salem when she most likely suffered a seizure and lost control of her red Saturn. The lack of skid marks, he said, showed that Sherman never made an attempt to slow down. The front end of her car nearly split the base of the utility pole in half, causing it to lean across Main Street with its live wires in jeopardy up above.Sherman’s small car held the pole in place, keeping its three transformers from crashing down onto the street and taking live wires with it.”We had to hustle to get her out as quickly as possible because of the danger of the wires coming down,” said Caruso. “And, we had to stabilize her injuries before we could even pull her out of the car. Time was very crucial. Our guys did a good job.”The incident occurred just outside of Rose’s Bakery at 9:30 a.m. Main Street was shut down between Caller and Howley streets for approximately two hours. Once the pole was stabilized and the car removed, traffic returned to normal.Caruso said that area is typically quite busy at that time of day, as many people cross the street to visit McDonald’s and nearby Citizens Bank. Rose’s Bakery happened to be closed for vacation, which also reduced normal traffic flow.Sherman suffered injuries to her head and rib, said Caruso, adding that the situation could have been far worse had her airbag not deployed.”Sometimes you get lucky,” he said. “Other times, you don’t get so lucky.”