WASHINGTON – The woman who had to swim for her life after her car plunged off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Friday night has been released from the hospital.
Maryland Transportation Authority police say Morgan Lake, of Sunderland, Md., was driving a 2007 Chrysler Sebring when she was hit by a tractor-trailer at around 8 p.m. and knocked into the bay 40 feet below. The 22-year-old College of Southern Maryland student managed to swim to some rocks and waited for help.
The truck driver has been identified as Gabor Lavasz, from Prince Edward Island in Canada. Neither he nor a couple in another car that was hit were injured.
Police say no charges have been filed. Media reports say a re-enactment of the crash will be staged Monday, although a Maryland Transportation Authority Police spokesman says “no statement has been issued by this office regarding such an event.”
MdTA police spokesman Sgt. Jonathan Green says a detailed description of the crash events may not be available for weeks.
In an interview with NBC Washington, Lake recalled an explosion of glass and the airbag in her face after the collision.
Then her car went over the bridge.
“I didn’t hit the water immediately — I was in air, and in the air is when I felt that I was gone,” she told the station.
Once in the water, Lake was injured and still in her seat belt. She said she felt she was “slightly drowning,” with a lot of water entering her mouth.
“All of a sudden I felt I didn’t want to drown, didn’t want to go out that way,” she said.
Hear how Lake made it to safety in the interview below:
View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Hank Silverberg contributed to this report. Follow @hsilverbergWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter.
