LOVELAND, Colo. — Two people say they are lucky to be alive after a Toyota Corolla plowed into the picnic area at a Loveland Dairy Queen Saturday.
Carol and Bob Hendry were at the ice cream shop with their grandchildren at one of two tables taken out by the car.
“It was like a bomb went off. There were bodies flying. Grandkids were screaming and crying,” said Carol Hendry.
The Loveland Police Department says the driver — 31-year-old Michael John Dupuis, of Loveland — was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he drove up on the sidewalk and into the picnic area.
He has since been charged with vehicular assault and DUI.
“There was a brick wall there, and there were shards of bricks flying everywhere,” said Carol Hendry.
She says there was no time to react before the collision.
“I saw that car out of the corner of my eye and heard the engine revving. And it was just too fast. Things happened too quickly,” said Carol Hendry.
Her injuries were minor.
“I have nothing—a few scratches, a few bruises,” she said.
Bob took the brunt of the impact at their table — breaking several bones in his back.
“Bob was knocked about 10 feet into the parking lot. [He] immediately got up and started helping the woman who was sitting at the table next to us,” Carol Hendry said.
The woman she’s referring to was briefly pinned under one of the tables, and later taken by ambulance to the hospital. Her condition is unknown.
Bob Hendry says his injury is worse than anything he suffered in his nearly 50 years in law enforcement.
“You survive a law enforcement career… and then you get taken out eating ice cream,” he told FOX31.
Fortunately, their grandchildren were not injured.
Carol said she did not realize how bad the crash was until she watched the surveillance video.
“When you look at the video, I think we’re all lucky to be alive. I can’t believe — especially the family sitting at the red table — that they weren’t hurt more than they are. It’s amazing. It’s a miracle,” she said.
A GoFundMe has been established for the Hendrys.