Elfa Lari, 83, made her way down a narrow ledge in a smoky subway tunnel earlier this month along with hundreds of other anxious Blue Line passengers escaping a derailed train.
Somewhere along the way, Lari fell to the tracks and hit her head, her attorney said Monday.
Firefighters found the Norridge resident a few feet below the walkway that led other passengers to safety on July 11, according to attorney Dan Kotin, who filed suit Monday against the Chicago Transit Authority on Lari’s behalf.
“Everybody walked on this narrow walkway, in the dark and smoke, for quite a long distance,” Kotin said. “The early indication is that Elfa fell but was either unconscious or hurt to the point where she couldn’t get back onto the walkway.”
Lari, who has since undergone treatment for broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and bleeding on the brain and has had two surgeries, likely suffered the most serious injuries in the derailment. Because of privacy laws–and because she was unconscious for more than a week–Monday was the first time her identity was made public.
More than 150 riders were taken to area hospitals for smoke inhalation and other injuries. Lari, apparently the only passenger who remains hospitalized, is at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Lari, who made many friends during her commute by bus and train to a downtown secretarial job once a week, has regained consciousness. Although she can’t speak because she’s on a ventilator, she is alert, her lawyer said, and she has indicated that she doesn’t remember the accident.
A friend and former commuting buddy who watched television footage hours after the accident recognized Lari in the video.
Janice Sovereen, 48, a former Chicago resident who lives in Texas, saw her friend being lifted from a wheelchair onto a stretcher in the video. The video and a still photo of a blood- and soot-stained Lari were posted on MSNBC’s Web site, which Sovereen visited while searching for more information about the derailment on the CTA line she used to ride with Lari.
When she saw the photo, Sovereen, who met Lari more than 20 years ago at a CTA bus stop, knew immediately it was the woman she thinks of as a “second mom.”
“Oh my God, that’s Elfa,” recalled Sovereen, who, on a hunch, called Northwestern to ask about Lari.
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Lari joins at least seven other passengers who are suing the CTA over the derailment. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating, but a board member said the accident likely was caused by a misalignment of the rails west of the Clark/Lake stop.
Lari’s suit contends CTA officials failed to properly operate or maintain the rail system and failed to provide an adequate way out for riders during an evacuation. Although the walkway had a handrail, its railing had gaps, according to Kotin.
CTA spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler would not comment on the lawsuit.
At the time of the afternoon rush-hour accident, Lari was on her way home from her secretarial job at Alfred Benesch & Co., an engineering firm. She was first hired in the 1960s, according to her boss, Harold Sandberg, the firm’s chairman emeritus. Though she officially retired more than 15 years ago, she still came to work, generally once a week and mostly on Tuesdays, he said.
“She’s very pleasant and cooperative and didn’t mind working overtime if necessary,” he said in a recent interview. “She’s a very good employee.”
Sovereen met Lari on her commute. The two struck up a conversation one cold morning while waiting for a bus on Cumberland Avenue, Sovereen said.
Though their age difference–35 years–spanned a generation, the women became friends over the course of countless morning bus rides to the Jefferson Park Blue Line station, where they took the train to their downtown jobs.
When the rail route was extended in 1983 to River Road (now known as the Rosemont station), the women’s commuting patterns shifted and they no longer rode the bus together. Not wanting to drift apart, Sovereen and Lari still met for monthly dinners they dubbed “The CTA Club.”
“I was in my 20s and she was in her 60s or 50s, but yet we were really good friends,” said Sovereen. Over the years, Lari got to know Sovereen’s family. She was a guest at Sovereen’s surprise 30th birthday party and at her wedding.
In 1992, Sovereen moved to California when her husband was relocated. But she remained in touch with Lari, filling her in on the births of her two daughters and sending pictures. About five years ago, the family moved to Texas, but Sovereen still looked up her friend when she came to the Chicago area to visit family.
Lari, who never married, has many good friends, Sovereen said. Despite her age, she had plenty of energy. Before the accident, she took daily walks and often swam, her attorney said.
A few years ago, Lari, who enjoys traveling, took a trip to San Antonio. Sovereen and her daughters drove to the city, stayed at a motel and spent the day with her.
“She still called me probably every couple of months or so,” Sovereen said. “And she always remembered my birthday and my daughters’ birthdays.”
Now Sovereen waits to hear about her friend’s recovery.
“I just want everybody to pray that she gets better,” she said.
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