Two food influencers shared video and photos of their “near-death experience” after an SUV crashed through the wall of a restaurant while they were eating.
What Happened at CuVée’s in Texas?
On Aug. 17, Nina Santiago, who goes by @NinaUnrated on social media, posted the astonishing footage to Instagram for her 227,000 followers. The clip shows Santiago and fellow influencer Patrick Blackwood sitting side by side in a booth at CuVée’s Culinary Creations in Houston, TX, sampling a pair of sliders. Just as the pair bite into their sandwiches, glass explodes from the window and rains down onto their table. The table itself begins to buckle, sending the food arching towards Santiago and Blackwood as they race to exit the booth.
“Tomorrow is not promised,” Santiago captioned the startling post, calling the ordeal a “near-death experience.”
The following day, Santiago uploaded photos detailing her and Blackwood’s injuries from the crash. Several pictures show Santiago in a hospital bed with lacerations on the side of her face, while another details a bloody puncture wound on her hand. Blackwood is also seen strapped into an ambulance, with similar lacerations to his face.
What Did Nina Santiago Say About Her ‘Near-Death Experience’?
“I’m beyond grateful to be alive after an SUV crashed through the glass wall at @cuveesculinarycreations in Houston, TX, shattering everything while @iampatrickblackwood and I recorded an eating show,” Santiago captioned the carousel. She detailed how the glass seemingly came “out of nowhere” at the precise moment she “bit into a delicious salmon slider.”
“But we survived,” she continued. “This experience showed me who truly matters; life’s too short for grudges or anger. Let go, forgive, live in the now, and cherish those around you. This could’ve been our last meal.”
CuVée’s responded to the incident by reposting Santiago’s initial video on its Instagram Stories. “It was definitely a crazy weekend at CuVées. We’re just thanking God everyone is safe!” In a later post, the restaurant wrote: “Nothing is going to keep up [sic] from serving great food and service to our community.”
Has the driver been charged?
According to TMZ, the woman who was driving the car was on her way to a private function at CuVée’s when the accident occurred. It’s not clear what exactly went wrong, but according to the outlet the crash was deemed to be a “freak accident” following a short investigation. Law enforcement was able to determine that “the driver was not impaired,” and no charges are expected to be filed. However, the owner of CuVée’s specified that the driver would be held financially responsible for damages sustained to the restaurant.
