Woman critically hurt in Ohio Turnpike crash

8/14/2004

VERMILION, Ohio - A young mother from Watertown, N.Y., was in critical condition last night in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo after a crash on the Ohio Turnpike.

Penny Ostrom, 19, suffered head injuries when the car in which she was a passenger hit a minivan, went into a ditch, and overturned about 9:05 a.m. yesterday, the Ohio Highway Patrol said. She was riding through eastern Erie County's Florence Township, about five miles south of Vermilion, with Howard Shaunte, 22, of Forest Park, Ill., and her daughter, Seana Stanley, 2. Their eastbound car drifted over and hit the minivan, driven by Andrea Lafave, 39, of Warren, Mich.

The eastbound lanes were closed for about 20 minutes while a medical helicopter picked up Ms. Ostrom. No one else was hurt, and no charges have been filed, troopers said.