A construction worker begins clean-up work on a home on 94 Street and 142 Avenue that was struck by a truck driven by an elderly woman yesterday morning. (Jordan Verlage, Sun Media)

A northside home was damaged for the second time in three years by a vehicle early yesterday when a woman in her 70s lost control of her truck and slammed into the house.

Police believe she suffered a "medical event" before the accident, a police spokesman said.

The woman was driving near 94 Street and 142 Avenue around 9 a.m. when she skidded across two front lawns and plowed into the living room of Don and Dorene Whitworths' house.

The accident ripped off an entire corner of the home, leaving a gaping 2.5-metre tall hole.

The woman was taken to hospital with minor injuries, police say.

As startling as it might have been to wake up to a "kaboom," the most shocking part of the accident was it wasn't the first time it happened, said Don.

Around three years ago a woman trying to park her vehicle alongside the street backed into a decorative planter attached to the front of the house.

This time around, said Don, "I thought a bomb hit the house. Everything shook."

The impact rattled the home so hard, the attic door flew open, spewing insulation, he added.

The couple was still in bed after an early morning trip to the airport to drop off their son when the woman hit their home.

Don immediately shot out of bed to get his shoes and go outside to see what happened while Dorene went to investigate in the living room.

"The wind was blowing through the curtains and I heard a truck motor," Dorene said, while a construction crew filed in and out of the living room.

"I thought, 'Oh no, not again.' "

Meanwhile, Don was outside where he saw the woman trapped in the truck.

He ran to get some wire cutters, fearing the overturned and still-running vehicle would spark a fire.

But by the time he returned to the truck, ambulances and police had arrived on scene.

"They had to get the roof off the truck to get the woman out," he said.

The couple are the only people who have ever lived in the house, which was built around 1970. After the remnants of the first accident took months to repair, they worried this time around it would be the same.

But crews were on scene after the truck was towed away yesterday, beginning repairs to the badly damaged home.

Mirko Brumen, a next-door neighbour, also had his home damaged, although not as severely as the Whitworths'.

There was a large hole in the exterior of his house, as well as a pile of bricks where a large column used to stand.

"I thought for sure they were bombing me," he said, examining the scene. "That's what it sounded like. It was unbelievable."

Meanwhile last night a car crashed through the front window of the Value Village at 10127 43 Ave. Minor injuries were reported.

ALYSSA.NOEL@SUNMEDIA.CA