CHICAGO — Oksana Kovalchuk narrowly escaped a life-threatening incident on Chicago’s Southwest Side last Friday.

The 53-year-old recounted to ABC7 how a piece of concrete smashed through her vehicle’s windshield on Interstate 55. Upon opening her eyes, she found the concrete just inches from her head.

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In a conversation with ABC7 on Monday, Kovalchuk expressed her gratitude for surviving the ordeal.

“I couldn’t see anything. I just heard a loud ‘boom,’ and everything went dark,” she recalled.

Originally from Justice, Illinois, Kovalchuk is recuperating after her family reported that a 2-foot-long slab of concrete had dislodged from an overpass, striking the windshield of her SUV on I-55 at Pulaski while she was en route to work.

Oksana was hospitalized with multiple lacerations to her face, neck, and hands.

“The worse thing is, I could not sleep because I have stress, or something, and my head is real, like painful,” Kovalchuk said.

Kovalchuk’s daughter, Victoria Petriv, says her mother is not the only one who is grateful for her survival.

“We’re lucky, not just her. The family is lucky that she’s alive. It’s unbelievable,” Petriv said.

They are thankful but still traumatized.

“When one piece fell in the front, I guess the second one broke and went into the second seat. It bounced from the seat and hit back,” Petriv said. “Someone has to be responsible for this. This should have never happened. Never.”

The Illinois Department of Transportation says it has done multiple inspections since the incident and has not seen any loose concrete.

A structure summary report shows the bridge was last inspected October 2024 with no major issues found.

Kovalchuk says, so far, no authorities have reached out to her to talk next steps.

An IDOT says it performed “preventative measures” out of an abundance of caution and will continue to monitor the area. IDOT did not elaborate on what the preventative measures were.