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Woman Critical After Crash On Garden State Parkway

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman is critically injured in the hospital after slamming into a cement wall on the Garden State Parkway. Police say a flying tire set off a series of collisions.

Steven Pierre-Louis tells CBS 2 he's still in shock. On Saturday night, he rushed to his family's home in Newark as soon as he got word that his sister, Claudine Pierre-Louis, had been in a serious accident on the Parkway.

His mother called and told him.

"It's the kind of stuff that happens in movies, not in real life, but I guess it did happen," he told CBS 2's Ann Mercogliano.

"I could barely hear her. She was just crying," he added.

Police say 22-year-old Claudine was driving northbound on the Parkway in Woodbridge when at Exit 131, a tire came flying off a Dodge Dakota heading southbound.

The car in front of Pierre-Louis's Camry stopped short. She slammed into that car as the flying tire hit her dashboard. Investigators say she then hit another car before slamming into a cement wall.

She's was taken by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Coincidentally, a neighbor of the family says he was on the Parkway near the accident when it happened.

"I see the traffic and everybody was trying to get off the exit," said neighbor Yves Fils. "It's very sad right now."

Pierre-Louis says he is his sister's mentor and spoke to her just a few days ago.

"I just hope she's OK," he said.

Police say they're trying to figure out how that tire could have possibly come loose, while Pierre-Louis says his family is keeping vigil by his sister's side.

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