Woman Who Grew Up in Lake Forest Killed in Chicago Bus Crash

By LAUREN TRAUT (Patch Staff)

A woman who grew up in Lake Forest and graduated from Woodlands Academy has been identified as the pedestrian killed in a bus crash in downtown Chicago Tuesday evening.

Aimee Coath, 51, now of south suburban Flossmoor, was struck when a CTA bus swerved to avoid another car, struck other cars and ended up on the south side of a pedestrian plaza in front of 205 N. Michigan Ave. Nine people were also injured. The 48-year-old CTA bus driver has been cited for running a red light and failing to exercise due care in a deadly crash. The bus was empty at the time of the crash.

According to the Chicago Tribune, she grew up in a family of eight children, five girls and three boys. Between life in Lake Forest and settling in Flossmoor to have two children of her own, she received a degree at Knox College in Galesburg.

Following Tuesday’s crash, Coath was taken to Northwestern Hospital in critical condition, where she later died. She and the bus driver suffered the most serious injuries. Eight others, including a child, were hospitalized, reports ABC Chicago—some in serious condition, one in stable condition. Seven other people refused treatment at the scene.

“[The bus] hit the curb and went up on the curb and slammed into a concrete wall,” witness Robert Kudd told NBC Chicago. “People were screaming and running towards the bus. The bus driver was hurt. The windshield of the bus was out.”

ABC Chicago reports that Coath’s son and ex-husband were awaiting her arrival at a restaurant when the accident occurred. She had just left her job at a Gap store in the Loop.

She leaves behind two grown children, including a daughter set to marry in the fall.