Salt Lake woman with world's longest fingernails, loses nails in crash

Breaking news.

A Salt Lake woman holding the current Guinness Book record for the longest fingernails survived being ejected from a vehicle after an accident involving four cars on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, her record-setting nails didn't, according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. Injuries to Lee Redmond were serious but not life threatening, according to police. Her fingernails, however, were broken off in the crash.

Redmond gained notoriety for her fingernails, which were approximately 33 inches long and had not been cut since 1979. She has been featured on TV in episodes of "Guinness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not."

On Tuesday, the SUV Redmond was a passenger in, hit the side of another vehicle in the intersection of 2300 East and 6200 South about 1:30 p.m., said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson. The impact of that collision caused the second vehicle to hit a third vehicle, and propel the SUV onto the sidewalk, through a chain-link fence and back onto the road where it hit a fourth vehicle, Hutson said.

Redmond, who was in the passenger seat, was ejected from the SUV. The man driving the vehicle was pinned and suffered a broken ankle. Both were transported to area hospitals, she in serious condition and the driver in critical condition, Hutson said.

The cause of the accident was still under investigation Thursday.

A family member said Redmond was still in the hospital Thursday night but was expected to be OK.

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