Woman injured in plane crash talks about ordeal

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Diana McKeown was released from Memorial Hospital early this week after being rushed to the trauma unit immediately after a small jet crashed into her house.

The impact caused her house to be knocked off the foundation. McKeown is still suffering from her injuries.

McKeown was especially thankful on Palm Sunday. Thankful she survived the events of Sunday, March 17, when a plane nose-dived into her house.

Right before the plane crashed, McKeown was on her knees in her living room reciting her daily divine mercy prayers.

She usually doesn't allow anything or anyone to interrupt her prayer recital.

However on that particular day she said she was compelled to answer the phone that began to ring.

The phone was located on the other side of her living room, so she got up and walked to the other side of the room to answer it.

What happened next she says was nothing short of a miracle.

"I sat down in a chair and we were talking and we were actually talking about her church."

McKeown said the woman on the other end of the phone was a dear friend she hadn't spoken to in more than a year.

"The next thing I know there was a huge explosion,” said McKeown. “All the other flooring had gone to the basement. It tore everything else up. My chair and that small area were really all that was left."

She says if it wasn't for her pausing from prayer to take that phone call, she would have likely died.

"The roof was gone from the house as well as the walls,” said McKeown. "The firemen came in and they had their masks on and the oxygen and tanks on and everything."

They put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital where she stayed for most of the week.

She is using a walker as she regains her strength.

She says she was struck by installation and falling debris during the crash.

She also says she inhaled a lot of insulation as well and is still suffering an irritating cough and pain in her lungs.

"I think God is giving me strength. Tremendous strength,” said McKeown.

Strength she never expected.

McKeown's house was so badly damaged, it had to be bulldozed.

There was one thing in the house that was salvageable, a cabinet with a large collection of angels.

Her insurance company is helping her rebuild and is relocating her to a nearby home where they will provide furnishings until the house is complete.