A White Haven woman who was injured by a six-time drunken driver has been awarded $3.5 million in a settlement of a lawsuit, an attorney said Friday.

Vera Staszkiewiez, 76, reached the settlement last week with the insurance company representing John Joseph Conahan of Hazleton. Conahan admitted he was drunk when he crashed into Staszkiewiez's car on Oct 19, 1999.

Staszkiewiez's attorney Matthew Cartwright of Scranton, announced the settlement in a press release Friday. Typically settlements in lawsuits are kept secret, but Cartwright said Staszkiewiez refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

"How is anybody else going to be made safer if you keep settlements secret", Cartwright asked. "This was an important case... That's how you send a message, by sending out a press release and by refusing to sign confidentiality agreements."

Staszkiewiez said she wanted the public to know how her life was ruined by the crash, hoping to send a message to others about the devastation a drunken driver can cause.

"I'll never be without pain, I'll always be disabled. The man gave me a life sentence," Staszkiewiez said.

Staszkiewiez was parked in the parking lot of Genetti's hotel in Hazleton. Conahan, driving a car owned by his company, Central Air Freight Services, slammed head on into her car. She suffered an injury to her leg that led to a knee replacement. While recovering from that operation, she fell and injured her hip, which also had to be replaced, Cartwright said.

The surgeries have left Staszkiewiez, a former ballroom dancer, permanently disabled. She can walk, but with great difficulty and she spends most of her time in a wheelchair.

Staszkiewiez said her injuries left her unable to care for her 81-year-old husband, Theodore, who had health problems, forcing him to go into a nursing home against both their wishes.

"I always promised him. I said 'Honey, that's one thing you don't have to worry about. I'm here to take care of you.'" Staszkiewiez said, her voice cracking with emotion. "With the settlement I will be able to hire help and I can bring my husband home."

Cartwright said the bulk of the settlement will be paid by Conahan's insurance company, Liberty Mutual, but Conahan and his company are responsible for part of the payment.


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