A Cohasset woman was making a mental to-do list when a tree limb crashed onto her car during Monday’s storm

"This is going to be expensive," Sullivan said she thought to herself.

The branch crashed onto the hood and shattered the front windshield and the back window next to her baby's car seat.

In an interview this week, Sullivan said she remembers bracing for impact, hearing the glass shatter, and being terrified the car had slid into another lane. Her head had hit the steering wheel and she had a bruise on her forehead.

She immediately looked in her mirror to check on her 4-month-old daughter, who had been sleeping.

"Her eyes were wide open," Sullivan said. "She looked stunned and there was blood coming from her nose and I was so afraid that something had happened to her because I saw that she didn't have a window anymore."

She sprinted to the other side of the car and sighed in relief when she saw little Isla look at her and blink from her car seat, which was covered in glass and debris.

She had a cut under her nose but was otherwise OK.

Just 20 minutes before the accident, Sullivan was idling in a parking lot while she talked on the phone with her mom, who warned her the roads were dangerous. She said she knew and that she would be careful.

As she went to pick up her son from her family, she drove at least 10 miles under the speed limit and kept her eye on swinging branches above her.

After the crash, a couple driving home with their week-old infant from their pediatrician saw Sullivan's car in the middle of the road and pulled over to help.

The father helped Sullivan remove the big pieces of glass off Isla and gave her blankets because Isla's were covered in glass.

"They just comforted me and were so wonderful," Sullivan said. "The dad put me in his car to just sit there for a moment to stay out of the cold and rain and calm down for a second."

While the mother sat with Sullivan and the babies in the car, the father took pictures of the damage on her phone and talked to police before Sullivan and Isla were taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Sullivan didn't catch their names at the crash but was able to get in contact with them the next day.

"I'm incredibly grateful that they were there," Sullivan said. "They were so wonderful and compassionate towards my daughter and I."

From the first responders and the couple to her insurance company, everyone has been "unbelievably kind," she said.

"Here I was thinking '14 days left in the year and nothing can go wrong,' " Sullivan said. "But while that wasn't true, this really showed me how good some people truly are."

Talia Lissauer can be reached at [email protected][1].

Follow her on Instgram @_ttphotos [2].

References

^ [email protected] (www.bostonglobe.com)
^ @_ttphotos (www.instagram.com)