'Find my grandbabies': Swan Boat Club survivor recounts tragic crash at birthday party

When Diane Medina first heard the SUV that plowed through a wall of Newport's Swan Boat Club, she thought it was a bomb.

Then she saw the food flying everywhere — hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, chili. And finally, Medina felt it, the force of the vehicle as it hit, dragging her all the way to the other end of the room, and the pain that followed.

Trapped under debris, Medina, 57, said she couldn't breathe. She thought she was paralyzed. She had never seen more blood than the amount coming from her head.

"Somebody's gotta find my grandbabies," Medina managed to repeat, joining the panicked cries of adults as they searched for their young children, all guests at a 3-year-old boy's circus-themed birthday party.

Still recovering from significant injuries, Medina on Saturday recounted the April 20 tragedy to the Free Press during an interview from her Toledo hospital bed, including her gratitude that her grandchildren were not injured in the crash that left two young siblings dead and about a dozen other people hurt.

The details of that afternoon are still hard to comprehend for the Carleton woman, including that her long-time friend — someone she has vacationed with — is now charged with eight crimes as the driver of a vehicle that plowed through a wall and into the boat club and the celebration happening inside.

Just minutes prior to the crash, the group sang "Happy Birthday" and the birthday boy's mother, a friend of Medina, served cake. Medina had just told her three granddaughters, Ella, Evelyn, and Alaina, to go to a bounce house and play. She remembered how excited they were as they ran and the smiles that grew on their faces, painted for the party.

What was once the most beautiful and elaborate children's birthday party Medina had ever seen — it had all the circus classics, including a stilt walker, a balloon maker, a magician — now looked like a tornado had ripped through it, Medina said. Food was strewn everywhere, including the ceilings. Tables and debris scattered. Injured adults and children were lying on the floor.

Next to Medina was a father tending to his teenage daughter who was severely injured from the crash. Medina heard more panicked cries, this time from adults attempting to rescue 4-year-old Zayn Phillips.

Zayn didn’t survive the crash. Neither did his 8-year-old sister, Alanah Phillips.

Medina couldn’t see the siblings' mother, Mariah Dodds, who had been sitting with her three children at the table next to hers. Dodds and her 11-year-old son both survived, but suffered serious injuries and remained hospitalized.

But Medina did see the 66-year-old woman who was pulled from the vehicle: her good friend Marshella Chidester, who authorities allege was intoxicated when she slammed the SUV into the birthday party. Her lawyer, Bill Colovos, has said a medical issue, not alcohol, caused the crash.

Medina watched, in shock, as Chidester was walked to a chair and was asked by the mother of the birthday boy: “What were you thinking?”

Chidester replied she didn’t know, according to Medina.

“She looked around the room and she was sitting down with a blank stare on her face,” Medina said. “She was just staring into la-la land.”

'This isn't the woman I know'

Medina doesn’t like to think about what would have happened to her three granddaughters if she hadn’t told them to play in the bounce house, and although they weren't injured, the trauma lingers.

The children thought their grandmother was dead.

" 'Grandma, I'm too young to see the things that I've seen,' " Medina said Ella, 6, told her the next day.

After Medina was rescued from the rubble, she was unrecognizable, she said. She was rushed to a hospital in nearby Toledo, where she was being treated for three breaks in her pelvis, a broken nose, internal bleeding and a head injury.

A GoFundMe account was created to help support Medina's recovery. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office confirmed with the Free Press that Medina was among those injured. A hospital spokesperson confirmed Medina was being treated and is in serious condition.

Medina was told by her doctors that she can't walk for at least eight weeks. Loved ones have shown support during visits to her at the hospital, and her grandchildren have been dancing for Medina on video calls.

But she's still angry. Angry at Chidester.

"This isn't the woman I know," Medina said.

They met when Medina joined the boat club 10 years ago. Medina said Chidester is a devoted Christian who taught bible school to kids, someone who Medina had vacationed with in Tennessee.

"The girl would not hurt a fly. She's the most loving, caring, loyal, sweetest," Medina said.

The eight criminal charges Chidester faces include two counts of second-degree murder and another two counts of driving while intoxicated causing death. She was released from Monroe County Jail earlier this past week after posting a $1.5 million bond via a surety company.

Colovos has said his client suffers from neuropathy and has "epileptic type seizures" in her legs. He said she had only one glass of wine that day. He has said Chidester "blacked out" from a seizure when her SUV crashed into the boat club and is remorseful.

Colovos is waiting on a medical report that would determine his client's blood alcohol level around the time of the crash. Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffery Yorkey has said that a preliminary alcohol breath test was "significantly over the legal limit" but he was not specific.

"I’m asking everyone to please be patient and don’t rush to judgment until all the evidence and the blood test results are received," Colovos said Saturday in a statement.

"My client is beyond devastated and prays for the children and all families affected."

Medina acknowledged that her friend had medical issues. In the last six months, she said, she witnessed Chidester drinking more than usual.

She doesn't think the crash was intentional. But she hasn't forgiven her friend, either.

"I was taught never to hate somebody. That's not in my vocabulary. I don't hate her. I'm just angry with what she has taken away from me," which is nothing compared to what Chidester has taken away from Dodds, Medina said.

"But I can't wait to see her in court ... I want her to see what she did to me. I want her to see what she did to her friend."

Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442 or asahouri@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Find my grandbabies': Swan Boat Club survivor recounts tragic crash