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Lodi woman remains in hospital two weeks after head-on crash
Two weeks after she was injured in a head-on crash on Highway 12, a Lodi school crossing guard remains hospitalized with numerous injuries and broken bones.
On March 24, Stacey Berry, 40, was picking up her husband from work before heading to her afternoon shift at Beckman School. As she headed west on Highway 12 near Ray Road, an oncoming pick-up truck suddenly veered into her path.
The truck driver, Lodi resident John Austin Coughran III, 22, was cited for failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol. The case will also be turned over to San Joaquin County prosecutors, who will determine whether to charge Coughran.
Berry was taken by ambulance to Lodi Memorial Hospital, then flown to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento because of her injuries. She's had several surgeries for a collapsed lung and broken ankle, ribs, knee, hip and pelvis, according to her family members.
"Right now, she can't even get out of bed," said her husband, Chris Berry.
He's trying to make frequent visits to the hospital while also caring for the couple's 12-year-old son and continuing his job as a truck driver -- all without the family's only car, which was totaled in the crash.
To make matters even worse, the family was in the process of switching to a cheaper medical insurance plan and was going without coverage for a month.
"In my wildest dreams, I never would have thought of something like this happening to someone I love," Chris Berry said.
Coughran was heading east on Highway 12, on his way from work in Rio Vista to a dentist appointment in Lodi, according to a CHP report. He allegedly told officers that he was not speeding and did not feel tired until he got to Flag City. He remembered nothing of the accident.
Witnesses reported that they had noticed nothing wrong with Coughran's driving until he suddenly veered into the opposite lane.
Stacey Berry, who had almost reached to Alegre Trucking, veered to her right to avoid Coughran, but he also tried to steer around her, according to the CHP.
Both vehicles collided, and Stacey Berry's car spun into the path of Richard Matuska, 44, of Stockton. He was not injured.
Coughran, who climbed out of his truck's window, was taken to Lodi Memorial Hospital and treated for lacerations to his head, hands and arms.
Though he told officers that he had been arrested for driving under the influence two weeks earlier, there was no indication that alcohol was involved in the accident, according to the CHP.
Chris Berry isn't sure when his wife will be released from the hospital, and he has no idea when she'll return to Beckman School, where she is a crossing guard and works lunch duty.
The worst-case scenario, he said, is that Stacey Berry will have to spend time in a rehabilitation home because of the extent of her injuries.
A trust account to help with medical bills has been set up in Stacey Berry's name at Farmers and Merchants Bank, 1020 W. Kettleman Lane, in Lodi. The account number is 1174816-8-19.
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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