A Hegewisch man was pronounced dead after the SUV he was driving clipped one house before crashing into another in his neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon.
Family members said the driver, 34-year-old Wallid Haddad, was epileptic and may have had a seizure immediately before the crash.
"It looks like it came right on my grass and my neighbor's grass, and it's very scary," said Claudia Nieves, who lives two doors down from where the SUV came to rest in a home on the 12800 block of South Muskegon Avenue.
The homeowner, Bob Opiola, a Chicago firefighter and EMT, was injured when the vehicle came through his wall, but neighbors said he still tried to help the driver. He expressed gratitude that the SUV hit his home while his two children were at school. He also said the incident could have been much worse if the vehicle hit a school playground across the street where children were playing.
Haddad was pronounced dead at Trinity Hospital.
Epilepsy and seizures can develop in any person at any age. One in 26 people will develop epilepsy in their lifetime, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
