An elderly woman from Brooklyn, aged 87, tragically lost her life on Wednesday when she was struck by her own car. The incident occurred shortly after she had spent 20 minutes praying in her vehicle, parked in her driveway, her grieving son revealed. Joan Behan, a mother of four, grandmother to ten, and great-grandmother to one, was a deeply religious woman who had just returned from her regular two-hour workout session.
Behan, who had been a teacher’s aide in her younger years, had just finished her prayers and stepped out of her blue 2013 Toyota Corolla. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to engage the parking brake. As she walked behind her car, it rolled backward, resulting in a fatal accident right outside her Gravesend home on West 10th Street around 3 p.m., as per the police report.
The accident caused severe trauma to Behan’s head and torso. She was immediately rushed to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, but despite the best efforts of the medical team, her life could not be saved.
Behan’s 60-year-old son, David, shared that his mother was an active, healthy, and sharp woman who frequented the gym multiple times a week. “She had just returned from a two-hour workout before the accident,” he said. “She would always spend about 20 minutes praying in her car in the driveway. That’s what she was doing when the accident happened.”
David fondly remembered his mother as a woman who brought joy to everyone she interacted with. “She made everybody’s life always very happy — no matter who she spoke to,” he said. “She had a happy saying about everything. Everybody loved her.”
The tragic incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of safety measures, even in seemingly safe environments like one’s driveway. It also underscores the unpredictability of life, where a routine activity can suddenly turn into a fatal accident.