Whatever
Happened...
Question: Whatever happened to Chinatown lei shop owner Janet Roberts after a van crashed into her store and pinned her against the refrigerator last October? Lei shop owner back to
work after scary accidentBy Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.comAnswer: Roberts, who turns 75 tomorrow, underwent more than two months of rehabilitation at Queen's and Kuakini medical centers. She said she received skin grafts on both legs and continues to have difficulty walking from place to place.
On Oct. 13, 2000, a van crashed into Jenny's Lei Shop on 65 N. Beretania Street and pinned Roberts upside down against a refrigerated display case and shelves. The driver of the van, a 25-year-old Nanakuli woman, was arrested for drunken driving, negligent injury and driving without a license. Roberts was taken to Queen's Medical Center in critical condition.Roberts returned to work in June and continues to sit at a table at the entrance of the store. At times, Roberts said, she moves to the back of the store for fear of getting struck again.
"I do get scared," Roberts said.
The lei shop owner's son, Steve, said, "She has scars all the way up and down her legs."
"Her life was changed overnight," said Steve, who was standing next to his mother when the van pinned her against the refrigerator. He suffered shoulder and knee injuries.
Roberts said she cannot walk very well now. If she walks a block, she gets tired, she said.
"Thank God my mom is still here," Steve Roberts said.
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