Plainfield man dies after trying to help elderly driver

AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- A 51-year-old Plainfield man has died from injuries he sustained in a crash Wednesday in which he was hit by a vehicle being driven by an 84-year-old Aurora woman he was trying to help.

Dennis C. Hunke II, of the 12900 block of Hadfield Drive in Plainfield, was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. Friday at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, according to the DuPage County Coroner's Office.

Hunke suffered massive head injuries after coming to the aid of an elderly Aurora woman after she lost control of her 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan while backing out of a driveway at about 10:10 a.m. Wednesday, in the first block of South Buell Avenue in Aurora, police said.

According to the preliminary investigation, the woman first hit a 1998 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by a 20-year-old Aurora man that was southbound on Buell. She then apparently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake while still in reverse after the crash, which sent her vehicle into two separate yards and back onto the roadway, police said. Upon seeing the crash, Hunke ran toward the woman's vehicle while yelling for her to apply the brake. When he reached the minivan, he put his foot inside the open driver's side door in an apparent attempt to help Baudouin engage the brake. It appears that she again hit the accelerator causing Hunke to be hit by the inside of the door which threw him backwards. He ended up hitting the pavement headfirst.

Hunke was rushed to Presence Mercy Medical Center by Aurora Fire Department Paramedics for initial treatment and then airlifted to Good Samaritan Hospital. Neither Baudouin nor the driver of the vehicle she initially hit was injured. Both were the sole occupants of their respective vehicles, police said.

The woman was ticketed for improper backing, police said.