Woman deals with remorse after surviving crash that killed Uber driver

GASTONIA, N.C. — A woman who was riding in the back of an Uber during a crash said she’s happy to be alive, but is dealing with survivor’s remorse.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Uber driver killed, passenger critically injured in chain-reaction crash

Sherri Haskins said it will take six more weeks to heal from the broken bones and much longer to heal from the trauma.

“I keep on having flashbacks,” she said. “I don’t know if they are real or not.”

Haskins will never forget Janice Lopez, the Uber driver who gave her a ride Sunday night of last week.

“She had a big old smile on her face and was really sweet,” said Sherri.

She said they had a pleasant conversation in the five minute drive from her home to Gaston Day School Road.

Police said a 19-year-old driver lost control of his car, crossed the center line and hit the car with Lopez in the driver’s seat and Haskins in the back.

“The pain was just so bad,” Sherri said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be here.”

Sherri was trying to text her mother when the car crashed. Her mother was at work in intake at CaroMont Regional Medical Center.

She looked up and saw her daughter’s name as an incoming patient of a car accident.

“I was so confused ‘cause I was like,” said Guinn Haskins, Sherri’s mother.

Guinn called her daughter and she didn’t answer. Minutes later nurses called her to come see her child.

Sherri couldn’t imagine standing on her own again or walking. She told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon that the support of her family and strangers got her to this point.

But she still thinks about Lopez.

“It makes you feel like, why did they pass away and you didn’t?” Sherri said.

She forgives the driver that police said caused the crash. Channel 9 was told he is still in the hospital, but Sherri wants him charged.

“A lot of people make mistakes but he still has to pay for,” she said. “He took somebody’s life.”

We talked to a man who said he is the grandfather of one of the other two drivers injured. He said his grandson saw the 19-year-old driver’s car just before the crash and said to himself, “that person is going too fast.”

Police said the teen driver was speeding, but haven’t charged anyone yet.

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