Husband shares update on Marion woman recovering from near-fatal accident
MARION, Iowa (KCRG) -David Swenka said he suspected something was wrong on the evening of October 24 when his wife didn’t come home from bingo.
“Normally she’s home by 10:15. So, 10:30 or so I started calling her phone and no answer, no answer,” said Swenka. “About 11:00, 11:15, I seen a police car pull up.”
According to Cedar Rapids police, Zawadi Christophe, 18, rear-ended Joanna Swenka’s car, pushing her into an on-coming truck. Swenka’s passenger died.
On Wednesday, David Swenka shared with TV9 his wife’s severe injuries—those include a brain bleed, broken ribs, abrasions, fractures— as well as the procedures she’s had to go through.
“She had back surgery,” said Swenka. “She was on an oxygen-breathing apparatus for about a week.”
In the approximately two weeks Joanne Swenka has been in the hospital, her husband David has been keeping track of every development. He even made a questionnaire for hospital staff to fill out to help him understand his wife’s condition.
As for Christophe, David Swenka said, “He’s 18 years old. It’s too darn bad that so many young people don’t have any direction.” He added, “I think he should, you know, pay something for this. This is, this is bad.”
But Swenka’s focus is primarily on his wife and the weeks and months of healing ahead of her.
“I believe she’ll go into, like, a Transition Center here in Cedar Rapids or Hiawatha or somewhere, and then home. And then we’ll see what happens there,“ said Swenka.
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