TOLEDO, Ohio — Lacey Fredrick says she is grateful to be alive.
The 33-year-old Toledo woman who lost her left arm in a crash caused by a suspect fleeing police in east Toledo on June 27. She spoke with WTOL 11 while still recovering at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center.
Fredrick said she is thankful to Toledo police and the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department for performing the lifesaving efforts last week.
Aquaveince Moore, 23, of Toledo, faces charges after allegedly after stealing vehicle and leading police on a high-speed chase that ended the crash
While she will continue to live without her left arm, Fredrick said she still has what's most important: her own life and those around her.
Frederick is a warehouse technician at Whitacre Logisitcs and was traveling back to work from her break when her car was hit out of nowhere at the intersection of Craig and Front streets in east Toledo at around 10 a.m.
"I was just trapped there, and I just remember screaming, 'my arm, my arm, my arm, and the officers that ran up to me, are telling me not to look at it, not to look at it," Fredrick said.
Fredrick could not look away and she said it was all she could think about, no matter how horrifying her injuries were.
"I remember everything," she said "I get occasional nightmares from it, I felt and I saw my vehicle roll on my arm, and I rolled according to my understanding four to five times, and thankfully I landed."
She said Moore showed no concern for her or her life and said she even witnessed Moore try to flee on foot after the crash.
"Once I found out that we was secure, I went back to staring at my arm," Fredrick said.
Emergency crews transported Fredrick to the hospital and within minutes hospital workers took her to surgery. After she woke up, Fredrick said she learned her left hand was gone.
"They were able to take the breathing tube out of me, and that's when it all came to realization, they weren't able to save my arm," Fredrick said.
It was a decision her mother Linda Fredrick said she would have never thought she would have to make after doctors tried everything to save it.
"She kept saying they're going to take my arm, and I said, 'that's okay it's only an arm, it's replaceable but we can't replace you," Linda said.
Fredrick has a long road ahead, but she said she is grateful to have no internal bleeding, any other major injuries and to be right-handed.
Fredrick credits her mom and the staff at Mercy for being a helping hand despite losing her own.
"I am a very positive, happy go lucky person, and I refuse to let that monster take that away from me," Fredrick said.
Fredrick will be recovering at the hospital for the time being and hopes to get a prosthetic down the line.
Moore is scheduled to appear in Lucas Couny Municipal Court Wednesday.