A 26-year-old woman will be awarded $18.5 million after reaching a settlement with Paramount Pictures and DW Studio Productions after an on-set accident during the filming of the third"Transformers"movie left her seriously injured, her lawyer said Wednesday.

On Sept. 1, 2010, Gabriela Cedillo was an extra during a scene being filmed when a cable and its metal bracket broke loose from a stunt vehicle and crashed through her windshield, where it struck her in the head, her attorney, Todd Smith, said.

Since then, Smith said Cedillo has suffered significant brain impairment and has had several surgeries after the piece of metal took off about a third of her skull and a portion of the right side of her brain. Her older brother, Rudy Romo, said it's unclear whether she will be able to ever live a normal life.

"There is anger, of course. But we just have to continue to stay positive for Gabby," Romo said.

Smith said Cedillo was in her own vehicle traveling about 50 mph west on Cline Avenue in Hammond as one of about 80 extras hired for the scene involving a "cable-pull rollover," a common way of flipping a car with precision timing, said Conrad Palmisano, a veteran stuntman who was on the set the day Cedillo was hurt.

Three trucks were pulling two unoccupied stunt vehicles that were supposed to roll over during the scene. But the cable and bracket broke free, which Smith said was a result of shoddy welding. An attempt to film the scene the previous day had failed, and Smith said the production company, Paramount Pictures, was more concerned with the bottom line than ensuring the safety of the extras during the second attempt.

"The lesson to be learned (is) maybe we overrate these kinds of movies and the kind of destruction that they show and that they deliver," Smith said. "We ought to value more the people that are involved with these movies, innocent people like the extras that are in them."

Photos showed Cedillo's blue Scion with a large gash in the hood, a shattered windshield and a bloodied air bag, Smith said. After being struck by the bracket, her vehicle continued for a short distance before striking a median, he said.

Cedillo needs 24-hour care, and has had hallucinations, memory loss and severe cognitive difficulty, Smith and Romo said.

While she has limited walking ability, she has lost movement on the left side of her body and is blind in her left eye.

Cedillo, who is originally from Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, was attending Morton College in Cicero and was a bank teller on the verge of buying a home, Romo said. She tried to be an extra in films whenever she had the chance and was interested in a career in acting, her brother added.

Part of the settlement will be set aside for monthly disbursements to ensure she has care for the remainder of her life. Public aid covered $189,000 for multiple visits to Loyola University Medical Center, much of which will be repaid, Smith said. About $800,000 in unpaid rehabilitation and physician costs will also be covered through the settlement.

A separate workers' compensation lawsuit against the company that hired the extras, which is still unsettled, could bring in another estimated $2.5 million, Smith said.

An Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration report from last June called the accident "unforeseeable," a conclusion Smith disputes. IOSHA did not issue any fines or citations.

A representative from Paramount Pictures did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

"Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon"grossed $1.1 billion worldwide.

jjaworski@tribune.com