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‘This is the biggest nightmare that you could ever imagine’

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Video by Star-Advertiser staff
Manoa resident Lianna McCurdy recalls the tragic crash that sent her to the hospital after a truck plowed into her and others Monday evening at a busy Kakaako intersection.
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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Lianna McCurdy of Manoa spoke today at The Queen’s Medical Center.

Lianna McCurdy still had dried blood in her curly brown and yellow shoulder-length locks as she spoke from her hospital bed today about the tragic crash that killed three and injured five in Kakaako on Monday night.

The 21-year-old Manoa resident was seriously injured while waiting to cross the street with her boyfriend and two friends visiting from Philadelphia by a truck that plowed into the crowded intersection of Kamakee Street and Ala Moana Boulevard.

“This is the biggest nightmare that you could ever imagine. Ever,” said McCurdy’s mother, Debbie.

The 27-year-old male driver of the pickup was among five who survived. Two female adult pedestrians were in critical condition, while one male adult was in good condition. Another man in a separate truck that was hit is also in serious condition.

McCurdy was told today that her boyfriend’s best friend had died. Her boyfriend and the deceased friend’s girlfriend were unharmed.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified one of the dead as Casimir G. Pokorny, 26 of Oreland, Penn.

“They didn’t want to tell me cause I was having all this trauma and they didn’t want to make me more anxious,” she said of the accident that left her with multiple bruises and abrasions, a fractured vertebrae, bleeding in her kidney and brain and swelling of her heart and lungs, which was still at risk of collapsing.

All she said she remembers is admiring the new residential towers in Kakaako and hearing a big “smash” and then being on the ground.

“We were just going to the beach to see the sunset … and to “enjoy our last night together,” she said. The couple were scheduled to fly home to Philadelphia this morning.

“It’s just a miracle she’s not broken in pieces,” said Debbie McCurdy. “One boyfriend and girlfriend next to her were fine, she gets this and the other young man gets killed. It’s a couple minutes in time or just your position on the sidewalk. It’s a miracle and it’s a tragedy.”

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