Widow sues driver in hospital crash

The widow of a doctor killed when a 76-year-old woman crashed her car into Brockton Hospital has sued the driver for $10 million.

Kathleen Vasa, widow of 58-year-old Dr. Mark Vasa of Norwell, filed the wrongful death suit against Jane Berghold last week.

"To say she's devastated would be an understatement," Brockton attorney Brad Greenberg said of his client, Kathleen Vasa. "She sits home alone in an empty, quiet house, wondering what her future is going to be."

Berghold, a breast cancer patient at the hospital, drove her car into the radiation therapy unit at the hospital on Oct. 15. Vasa, the chief of the unit, and hospital secretary Susan Plante, 59, suffered fatal injuries in the accident. Berghold’s attorney declined comment yesterday. Berghold has said previously that her car didn't stop when she tried to brake.

Greenberg said Kathleen Vasa's lawsuit suggests that Berghold may have mistaken the gas for the brake. "The vehicle broke over the curb, accelerated apparently, drove down a fairly narrow walkway, penetrated two sets of double doors, and then proceeded several feet through the reception area where Dr. Vasa and other people were standing, and crushed them against the wall," Greenberg said.

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz has charged Berghold with two counts of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation and one count of operating to endanger. Berghold is scheduled to appear before a clerk magistrate next month.

"No one is saying she did it on purpose," Greenberg said. "I know this definitely is an older woman, but she in fact took the lives of at least two people and injured, very seriously, one other," he said. "If you're not able to drive a car properly, then you shouldn't."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.