Woman Loses Leg in Crash, Receives Bill for Guardrail

Mary-Ann Mulawka lost her leg after being rear-ended by a semi and crashing into a guardrail. But then, to add insult to injury, the state of Pennsylvania sent her a $2,500 bill for the guardrail. INSIDE EDITION has the story.

Mary-Ann Mulawka lost her leg in a horrific car crash. She slammed into a guardrail after she was rear-ended by a semi truck on I-80 in Pennsylvania.

"I felt a jolt, I saw the guardrail coming up and I thought, 'My God, I'm going to hit,' " she told INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd.

The guardrail crumpled as her car flipped over and over, and she was left clinging to life. Her right leg was severed on impact and her left leg horribly mangled.

Then, just as she was adjusting to life without her leg, Mulawka received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

"I opened it and I saw that it was charges for over $2,500 for the guardrail," she said.

That's right, she received a bill itemizing every nut and bolt, post, and beam of the guardrail her car had destroyed.

"They're trying to make you pay for its replacement, it's outrageous," said Boyd.

"This is wrong," Mulawka said.

Now, even the state agency agrees the bill is outrageous. In a statement to INSIDE EDITION, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said:

"When we issued the bill we did not know the full extent of [Mulawka's] catastrophic injuries. However, after she contacted us, we reviewed it and the bill was rescinded. We apologize for any additional anguish that bill may have caused."

It turns out the Department of Transportation billed Mulawka after reading an inaccurate police report that blamed her for the crash.

"I'm just hoping this will prevent anybody suffering as I have," she said.