A Colombian photographer and blogger’s around-the-world trip in her vintage Mercedes Benz has come to an abrupt end, after a car crash in the West Bank left her seriously injured and the nearly 60-year-old collector’s item in shambles.
Ana Lucia Perez, 59, was hospitalized in Jerusalem after a head-on collision outside the settlement of Kfar Adumim last Friday, according to a Yedioth Ahronoth daily report Tuesday. The crash left two other people lightly hurt.
According to the paper, Perez drove across South America; from South Korea across Russia; as well as through numerous other countries in Europe and the Middle East, including Iceland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Greece.
Her photographs and travels are documented on an Instagram and Facebook page dubbed “Lucane and Merce,” the latter a nickname for the 1960 Mercedes.
On December 25, she shipped her car to the Haifa port to continue her journey.
“At the Kfar Adumim junction, I remember that I turned left toward Jerusalem, when suddenly a car came toward me. I didn’t see lights or anything signaling its arrival,” she told Yedioth in the Hebrew-language article. “I was hit hard and from then on I don’t remember anything.”
The scene of a car crash in the West Bank involving a classic 1960 Mercedes Benz in January 2019 (Courtesy of Judea and Samaria firefighting and rescue forces)
Photographs from the scene showed the iconic collector’s car almost completely destroyed.
West Bank roads can be notoriously dangerous, with a higher proportion of fatalities than on roads inside the Green Line. Most roads are a single lane in each direction with no dividers and plagued by reckless driving and little enforcement.
There were no immediate details on the car and driver that hit her.
“The car saved me from death,” she said. “It contains larger amounts of metal than new cars, and this protected me during the accident. The doctors said it’s a miracle that I can walk.”
She told the paper that while she was thankful to be alive, the damage to the car — which she bought 30 years ago for $1,500, coinciding with the birth of her oldest son — was devastating.
“This car is very dear to my heart, we’ve been through innumerable experiences together,” she lamented.
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