Mother dies saving daughter's life on Mother's Day
A woman died on Mother’s Day after saving her daughter’s life by pushing her out of path of an oncoming car.
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Diane Aluska, a mother of three, saw a car reversing fast towards them and managed to get her 16-year-old daughter Jenna out of the way.
“There is no doubt she saved her daughter’s life,” Suffolk County police Detective Sergeant James Murphy told the New York Post.
The pair had attended Mass and were walking out of a bakery in Lindenhurst, Long Island, when 80-year-old driver Ann Riolo mistakenly reversed her car towards them.
“She had thought that she had put it in drive,” Mr James Murphy told reporters.
“She left it in reverse, hit the gas, started speeding backwards, lost control, and jumped the sidewalk.”
Aluska put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder to try and get her out of the way, and Jenna avoided the worst impact of the crash.
The car clipped the 16-year-old, but killed her mother.
After hitting the women, Riolo then crashed the car into the local fire department building.
“At the last second you could see the mother kind of throw the daughter out of the way and sacrifice herself to try and save her own daughter so that was pretty heartfelt,” witness Joe Biggs told CBS.
Both women were taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital where Aluska died. Jenna was reported as being in a stable condition, according to police.
Jenna’s father, Kenneth Aluska, told The Post that he and his son would have to inform Jenna during a hospital visit that her mother had died.
Ms Riolo was treated for minor injuries at the same hospital. It is not clear whether criminal charges will be brought.
Her car, a Toyota Corolla, has been impounded to carry out a safety test.
“This appears to be non-criminal, a tragic accident,” Mr Murphy said.
“We are taking the car in to investigate, but it appears to be non-criminal.”