Woman discharged from hospital, then killed by car

[Guest guest]

BEDFORD — An elderly woman apparently tired of waiting for a taxi to pick

her up at a hospital was struck and killed on a freeway shortly after starting

to walk home, police said.

Elna Kitchens, 77, of Haltom City, often relied on taxis or friends for

rides because she and her family didn't own a car, said Penny Ponder, her

48-year-old daughter.

" She was a strong-willed lady, " Ponder said. " She did what she wanted to do.

She wanted to come home. "

Kitchens was discharged at 4:40 a.m. Tuesday from a hospital in this Fort

Worth suburb and died less than an hour later while trying to cross a freeway

about a quarter-mile away, police said.

The driver stopped after hitting Kitchens, and the medical examiner's office

ruled her death an accident. No charges were filed, police said.

Kitchens, who underwent heart bypass surgery in November, checked into the

hospital Monday after experiencing chest pains, Ponder said. She lived about

11 miles from the hospital with Ponder and Kitchens' 54-year-old son,

Ponder.