ZACHARY - A tree planted in the front yard of a Zachary home more than 40 years ago may have prevented a woman's airborne car from crashing through the living room and injuring the children inside.

A crew worked all day Saturday to repair a home on Rita Drive after a woman's car went airborne, crashing through the roof.

"When I heard what sounded like an explosion go off, I ran outside, then I seen a man running from the park, pointing, yelling, 'it's on the roof, it's on the roof!'" Brandon Lacoste said.

Neighbors tell WBRZ the driver is in the ICU. It may have been a medical emergency that caused the woman to accelerate through a stop sign and into the home. 

Officers said the woman drove over a ditch, clipped a tree, which forced the car to go airborne and crash through the attic of a home.

"Everyone is safe. The female was conscious, EMS removed her, put her in an ambulance then airlifted her to the hospital," Police Chief David McDavid said Friday night.

Two children were on the couch in the living room at the time.

"It shook them really bad, but after that, after everything calmed down — especially when they found out the lady was okay — they felt better," Lacoste said.

Lacoste says he and his family have lived next door his entire life. He says more than 40 years ago, the owners planted the tree to prevent drivers from hitting the house.

He says it's a decision that may have ultimately saved the children.

"If that tree had not been there, that car would be in the front of the house, instead of on the roof. Thank God for 60-year-old construction that the house held together," Lacoste said.

Lacoste is still in shock after what he saw Friday evening.

"It's hard to grasp a car being upside down on the roof," Lacoste said.

According to the Zachary Police Department, State Police is investigating to determine just how fast the woman was driving, and the cause of the crash.