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STAMFORD, Conn. Doris Scalise knows it could have turned out much worse for her husband on Wednesday.
Richard Scalise left his Club Road home Wednesday morning to get a part for his car. But on the way home, his 2005 Chevrolet Malibu was hit broadside by a Metro-North train heading south toward Stamford on the New Canaan branch. He said hes very lucky to be alive, said Doris Scalise, Richards wife of 70 years. It would have been much worse.
Doris, who is 92 like her husband, found out about the accident from Darien police. Originally, she had planned to make the trip with Richard on Wednesday. I didnt go with him this morning, she said. He was supposed to go to West Avenue, but at the last minute, he went over" to Camp Avenue.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police are investigating why the car was on the tracks at the time of the collision at the crossing at Camp Avenue between the Talmadge Hill and Springdale stations near the border of Stamford, Darien and New Canaan. Doris said she did not know much about the wreck, but she said the railroad crossing is dangerous.
Doris and her son, also named Richard, visited the elder Richard at Stamford Hospital, where he was in critical condition. The impact of the crash was hard, and Doris said Richard suffered four fractured ribs. He seemed to be doing pretty good, Doris said. Theyre going to keep him in (the intensive care unit) because theyre worried about pneumonia.
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