Boxford family lucky to be alive after massive tree branch pierces windshield

BOXFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A Boxford family says they are lucky to be alive after a massive tree branch pierced the windshield of the car they were riding in as whipping winds battered the area on Thursday.

“All I remember is the tree just coming through and knocking my shoulder back,” a nicked up Anders Landgren said Friday as he recovered on the couch.

Landgren, 17, was sitting in the front passenger seat of his mother’s car when the branch came loose and smashed through the windshield, nearly impaling him.

“There was a huge tree right next to my face,” Landgren said. “Nothing really hurt for like the first five seconds just because I was so in shock.”

Landgren’s 9-year-old sister, Lizzy, was sitting directly behind him in the backseat. She emerged from the incident unscathed. Police say the seat’s headrest likely saved her life.

“It was like a sci-fi movie. It was likely a Disney ride,” said Trish Landgren, who was behind the wheel when the branch came slicing through her Audi as she drove through Hamilton. “All of a sudden this thing is charging toward you and you have no idea what it is.”

The Landgren’s were left trapped with their golden retriever for 45 minutes because live wires also fell around the car.

“I couldn’t leave because of the wire and then the tree was on the other side,” Trish Landgren recalled. “It wasn’t safe.”

Anders Landgren was treated for a broken collarbone, a punctured neck, facial bruising, and an injured arm. No one else was injured.

“It ruined my weekend plans but it’s whatever,” Anders Landgren said. “I’ll be back.”

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