CLEVELAND — The young woman seriously hurt in a wrong-way crash that was part of a Parma police pursuit thought she was going to die.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
“I know I almost lost my daughter, I know I almost lost my daughter,” Temeka Houston said.
News 5 Investigators told you Monday that Cleveland City Council members want to sit down with Parma police to talk about pursuit policies and procedures.
Esenje Goodman says medication is helping with her pain.
She spoke with News 5 Investigators from her hospital room at MetroHealth Hospital.
Goodman has two broken ankles, and broken ribs, and her mouth will be wired shut to repair a broken jaw.
Her mother and step-father and close friend have been by her side at the hospital.
Goodman says she is grateful for the good samaritans who came to her rescue and pulled her out of her mangled KIA.
The hospital room where Goodman is recovering is full of love and life.
Goodman is grateful to have both.
“I knew that I just got hit in a head-on collision, so I was like, I don’t know what’s wrong with my body, and I was going in and out of consciousness, and I was like, I hope this wasn’t it,” Goodman said.
Goodman was driving to the store when a Honda came flying at her on I-176 Saturday night.
“I remember the airbags there were airbags everywhere,” Goodman said.
She couldn’t get out of her car on her own.
“When I really got scared is when they told me the car was on fire,” Goodman said. “They were trying to help me get out, and I was telling them my legs are pinned.”
Good samaritans, including Andrea Hastings-Craven, came to her rescue. Hastings-Craven says she ran across the highway and stayed by Goodman’s side as she and others helped to get Goodman out and to a safe spot.
“I kind of reacted in a way I felt I’d want someone to do for me,” Hastings-Craven said.
Hastings-Craven witnessed the head-on crash and the moments before.
“I had just crossed through the green light when a car came very fast off the highway,” she said.
A Parma police officer was chasing the Honda after seeing it crash into a car at Brookpark and State.
Police say the officer terminated the chase after losing sight of the car on 176 near Spring Road.
“I watched them go back on to 176, but instead of going straight, they made a left through the grass and another left to go through the underpass towards oncoming traffic,” Hastings-Craven said.
Hastings-Craven was able to get a number for Goodman's mom.
“The hardest part was hearing her mother’s screams and tears, not knowing if her daughter was alive or not,” Hastings-Craven said.
“That was the worst phone call I ever received,” Tameka said.
Her mom, Tameka, says police should have called off the chase. The two men in the other car did not survive.
This chase and a second one by Parma two days earlier led to Cleveland council members asking for a sit down with Parma police.
“I understand those young men hadn’t murdered anybody. They hadn’t kidnapped anybody. They hit somebody’s car, so it was just senseless, it was senseless,” Tameka said.
“I think that’s a talk that’s, well, it’s took too long,” Goodman’s step-father, Kelvin Houston said.
Goodman says she saw the chase pass her and was looking to see where they went when she got hit.
“I just feel like things have got to change both with police and people have to realize your lives aren’t definitely worth, I’m sure their mother would have rather have them in jail,” Goodman said.
Besides broken bones, Goodman lost her dog, Cece, in the crash.
“She was an old, old lady, a very sweet dog,” Goodman said.
But grateful to be alive and for Hastings-Craven keeping her calm.
“I feel like her and I have kind of bonded in a way that nobody else will understand,” Hastings-Craven said.
Her mother is calling Hastings-Craven her angel.
“I just want to say thank you, Andy,” Temeka said.
Goodman is a junior at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, studying International Business. She will likely have to take the rest of the semester off. She’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks. Wednesday, Goodman is set to have another surgery.
Goodman's family has created a GoFundMeaccount to raise funds for her medical bills.
Esenje suffered two broken ribs, two broken ankles, face and body lacerations, a broken jaw and teeth. She also lost her dog, Cece, in the crash. She’s doing a lot better and on the road to recovery, with a long road ahead of her.
