Train Derailment: Victim from Yorktown Suffers Spinal Fractures

Fidajete Brucaj, a hardworking woman who immigrated from Kosovo 30 years ago, was on her way to work as a cleaning lady at a midtown hotel when the train derailed, The New York Daily News reported.

Brucaj was apparently asleep when the train jumped the tracks and skidded through an embankment in the Bronx. Her daughter Quin told NBC News that all her mother remembered was "a couple of bangs." She had been knocked unconscious right away. 

She was taken to the Montefiore Medical Center where she was fitted for a brace on Wednesday, according to the Journal News, but her family expects her to come home soon. Besides the compression fractures, Brucaj also has bruises from her face to her legs. Even the slightest movement brings excruciating pain to her, the paper reported. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that according to Brucaj's neurosurgeon Dr. Reza Yassari she could struggle with memory and concentration problems and fatigue for a year. 

Brucaj's family told the New York Daily News that after seeing the TV news reports of the crash, they frantically starting dialing her cellphone until her husband Nick finally received word from a colleague that she was being treated at Montefiore.

They told several news outlets they feel fortunate Brucaj is alive. 

Brucaj remained in stable condition at the hospital, but her family told NBC News it would "take a long time for her to regain her health."